+Privoxy User Manual
+
+By: Privoxy Developers
+
+$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa Exp $
+
+The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
+Privoxy.
+
+Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting
+privacy, filtering web page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and
+removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
+very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
+tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
+networks.
+
+Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
+
+You can find the latest version of the user manual at http://www.privoxy.org/
+user-manual/. Please see the Contact section on how to contact the developers.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Table of Contents
+
+1. Introduction
+
+ 1.1. Features
+
+3. Installation
+
+ 3.1. Red Hat and SuSE RPMs
+ 3.2. Debian
+ 3.3. Windows
+ 3.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
+ 3.5. OS/2
+ 3.6. Max OSX
+ 3.7. AmigaOS
+
+4. Note to Upgraders
+5. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
+6. Starting Privoxy
+
+ 6.1. Command Line Options
+
+7. Privoxy Configuration
+
+ 7.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
+ 7.2. Configuration Files Overview
+ 7.3. The Main Configuration File
+
+ 7.3.1. Configuration and Log File Locations
+
+ 7.3.1.1. confdir
+ 7.3.1.2. logdir
+ 7.3.1.3. actionsfile
+ 7.3.1.4. filterfile
+ 7.3.1.5. logfile
+ 7.3.1.6. jarfile
+ 7.3.1.7. trustfile
+
+ 7.3.2. Local Set-up Documentation
+
+ 7.3.2.1. trust-info-url
+ 7.3.2.2. admin-address
+ 7.3.2.3. proxy-info-url
+
+ 7.3.3. Debugging
+
+ 7.3.3.1. debug
+ 7.3.3.2. single-threaded
+
+ 7.3.4. Access Control and Security
+
+ 7.3.4.1. listen-address
+ 7.3.4.2. toggle
+ 7.3.4.3. enable-remote-toggle
+ 7.3.4.4. enable-edit-actions
+ 7.3.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access
+ 7.3.4.6. buffer-limit
+
+ 7.3.5. Forwarding
+
+ 7.3.5.1. forward
+ 7.3.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a
+ 7.3.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples
+
+ 7.3.6. Windows GUI Options
+
+ 7.4. Actions Files
+
+ 7.4.1. Finding the Right Mix
+ 7.4.2. How to Edit
+ 7.4.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs
+ 7.4.4. Patterns
+
+ 7.4.4.1. The Domain Pattern
+ 7.4.4.2. The Path Pattern
+
+ 7.4.5. Actions
+
+ 7.4.5.1. +add-header
+ 7.4.5.2. +block
+ 7.4.5.3. +deanimate-gifs
+ 7.4.5.4. +downgrade-http-version
+ 7.4.5.5. +fast-redirects
+ 7.4.5.6. +filter
+ 7.4.5.7. +hide-forwarded-for-headers
+ 7.4.5.8. +hide-from-header
+ 7.4.5.9. +hide-referer
+ 7.4.5.10. +hide-user-agent
+ 7.4.5.11. +handle-as-image
+ 7.4.5.12. +set-image-blocker
+ 7.4.5.13. +limit-connect
+ 7.4.5.14. +prevent-compression
+ 7.4.5.15. +session-cookies-only
+ 7.4.5.16. +prevent-reading-cookies
+ 7.4.5.17. +prevent-setting-cookies
+ 7.4.5.18. +kill-popups
+ 7.4.5.19. +send-vanilla-wafer
+ 7.4.5.20. +send-wafer
+ 7.4.5.21. Actions Examples
+
+ 7.4.6. Aliases
+
+ 7.5. The Filter File
+
+ 7.5.1. The +filter Action
+
+ 7.6. Templates
+
+8. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+ 8.1. Get Support
+ 8.2. Report bugs
+ 8.3. Request new features
+ 8.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+ 8.5. Other
+
+9. Copyright and History
+
+ 9.1. Copyright
+ 9.2. History
+
+10. See Also
+11. Appendix
+
+ 11.1. Regular Expressions
+ 11.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
+
+ 11.2.1. Bookmarklets
+
+ 11.3. Chain of Events
+ 11.4. Anatomy of an Action
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1. Introduction
+
+This documentation is included with the current beta version of Privoxy,
+v.2.9.14, and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference
+for the time being is still the comments in the source files and in the
+individual configuration files. Development of version 3.0 is currently nearing
+completion, and includes many significant changes and enhancements over earlier
+versions. The target release date for stable v3.0 is "soon" ;-).
+
+Since this is a beta version, not all new features are well tested. This
+documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with CVS
+sources). And there may be bugs, though hopefully not many!
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.1. Features
+
+In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional features of ad and banner
+blocking and cookie management, Privoxy provides new features, some of them
+currently under development:
+
+ * FIXME: complete the list of features. change the order: most important
+ features to the top of the list. prefix new features with "NEW".
+
+ * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule
+ and filter effects. Remote toggling.
+
+ * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
+
+ * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
+
+ * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
+ and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
+ previous versions.
+
+ * GIF de-animation.
+
+ * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
+ "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-ups, etc.)
+
+ * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
+
+ * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
+
+ * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
+
+ * User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
+
+ * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
+
+ * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
+
+ * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis,
+ configuration more powerful and versatile over-all.
+
+ * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security
+ holes fixed.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3. Installation
+
+Privoxy is available both in convenient pre-compiled packages for a wide range
+of operating systems, and as raw source code. For most users, we recommend
+using the packages, which can be downloaded from our Privoxy Project Page. For
+installing and compiling the source code, please look into our Developer
+Manual.
+
+If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using possibly
+unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute version
+directly from the CVS repository or simply download the nightly CVS tarball.
+Again, we refer you to the Developer Manual.
+
+At present, Privoxy is known to run on Windows(95, 98, ME, 2000, XP), Linux
+(RedHat, Suse, Debian), Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, BeOS, and many
+more flavors of Unix.
+
+Note: If you have a previous Junkbuster or Privoxy installation on your system,
+you will need to remove it. Some platforms do this for you as part of their
+installation procedure. (See below for your platform).
+
+In any case be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to you.
+See the note to upgraders section below.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.1. Red Hat and SuSE RPMs
+
+RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-2.9.14-1.rpm, and will use /etc/
+privoxy for the location of configuration files.
+
+Note that on Red Hat, Privoxy will not be automatically started on system boot.
+You will need to enable that using chkconfig, ntsysv, or similar methods. Note
+that SuSE will automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM: rpm
+--rebuild privoxy-2.9.14-1.src.rpm;. This will use your locally installed
+libraries and RPM version.
+
+Also note that if you have a Junkbuster RPM installed on your system, you need
+to remove it first, because the packages conflict. Otherwise, RPM will try to
+remove Junkbuster automatically, before installing Privoxy.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.2. Debian
+
+FIXME.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.3. Windows
+
+Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through the installation
+process. You will find the configuration files in the same directory as you
+installed Privoxy in. We do not use the registry of Windows.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
+
+Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and untar the archive. For the
+most part, you'll have to figure out where things go. FIXME.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.5. OS/2
+
+First, make sure that no previous installations of Junkbuster and / or Privoxy
+are left on your system. You can do this by
+
+Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will guide
+you through the installation process. A shadow of the Privoxy executable will
+be placed in your startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2
+starts.
+
+The directory you choose to install Privoxy into will contain all of the
+configuration files.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.6. Max OSX
+
+Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file in the
+finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then, double-click on
+the package installer icon and follow the installation process. Privoxy will be
+installed in the subdirectory /Applications/Privoxy.app. Privoxy will set
+itself up to start automatically on system bring-up via /System/Library/
+StartupItems/Privoxy.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.7. AmigaOS
+
+Copy and then unpack the lha archive to a suitable location. All necessary
+files will be installed into Privoxy directory, including all configuration and
+log files. To uninstall, just remove this directory.
+
+Start Privoxy (with RUN <>NIL:) in your startnet script (AmiTCP), in s:
+user-startup (RoadShow), as startup program in your startup script (Genesis),
+or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx). Privoxy will automatically quit when
+you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack
+may display that Privoxy is still running).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+4. Note to Upgraders
+
+There are very significant changes from older versions of Junkbuster to the
+current Privoxy. Configuration is substantially changed. Junkbuster 2.0.x and
+earlier configuration files will not migrate. The functionality of the old
+blockfile, cookiefile and imagelist, are now combined into the "actions files".
+default.action, is the main actions file. Local exceptions should best be put
+into user.action.
+
+A "filter file" (typically default.filter) is new as of Privoxy 2.9.x, and
+provides some of the new sophistication (explained below). config is much the
+same as before.
+
+If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config files,
+and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files. When porting
+personal rules over from the old blockfile to the new actions files, please
+note that even the pattern syntax has changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x
+development versions, it is still recommended to use the new configuration
+files.
+
+A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
+
+ * The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
+ service (NAS).
+
+ * Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any important
+ configuration files!
+
+ * Privoxy is controllable with a web browser at the special URL: http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (Shortcut: http://p.p/). Many aspects of configuration
+ can be done here, including temporarily disabling Privoxy.
+
+ * The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
+ blocking, and many other aspects of Privoxy configuration is in the
+ "actions" files. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
+ actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
+ should go into user.action.
+
+ * Some installers may not automatically start Privoxy after installation.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+5. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
+
+ * Install Privoxy. See the section Installing.
+
+ * Start Privoxy. See the section Starting Privoxy.
+
+ * Change your browser's configuration to use the proxy localhost on port
+ 8118. See the section Starting Privoxy.
+
+ * Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. Please see the section
+ Contacting the Developers on how to report bugs or problems with websites
+ or to get help. You may want to change the file user.action to further
+ tweak your new browsing experience.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+6. Starting Privoxy
+
+Before launching Privoxy for the first time, you will want to configure your
+browser(s) to use Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is localhost
+for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is
+the one configuration step that must be done!
+
+With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set under Edit -> Preferences ->
+Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy. For Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet
+Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting. Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in
+the appropriate info (Address: localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy
+support too.
+
+After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
+re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You are
+now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using Privoxy!
+
+Privoxy is typically started by specifying the main configuration file to be
+used on the command line. Example Unix startup command:
+
+ # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
+
+See below for other command line options.
+
+An init script is provided for SuSE and Red Hat.
+
+For for SuSE: rcprivoxy start
+
+For Red Hat and Debian: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+
+If no configuration file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look
+for a file named config in the current directory. Except on Win32 where it will
+try config.txt. If no file is specified on the command line and no default
+configuration file can be found, Privoxy will fail to start.
+
+The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
+point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the "actions" files. These
+are where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
+aspects of Privoxy configuration. There are several such files included, with
+varying levels of aggressiveness.
+
+You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
+persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
+default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser session
+(aka "session cookies"), unless you add them to the configuration. If you want
+the browser to handle this instead, you will need to edit user.action (or
+through the web based interface) and disable this feature. If you use more than
+one browser, it would make more sense to let Privoxy handle this. In which
+case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
+
+Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
+sites is the popup-killing (through the +popup and +filter{popups} actions),
+because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need popups
+(explained below).
+
+Privoxy is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of the optional 1.1 features are as
+yet supported. In the unlikely event that you experience inexplicable problems
+with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default (like Mozilla or recent versions of
+I.E.), you might try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under
+Edit -> Preferences -> Debug -> Networking. Alternatively, set the
+"+downgrade-http-version" config option in default.action which will downgrade
+your browser's HTTP requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
+
+After running Privoxy for a while, you can start to fine tune the configuration
+to suit your personal, or site, preferences and requirements. There are many,
+many aspects that can be customized. "Actions" can be adjusted by pointing your
+browser to http://config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/), and then follow
+the link to "View & Change the Current Configuration". (This is an internal
+page and does not require Internet access.)
+
+In fact, various aspects of Privoxy configuration can be viewed from this page,
+including current configuration parameters, source code version numbers, the
+browser's request headers, and "actions" that apply to a given URL. In addition
+to the actions file editor mentioned above, Privoxy can also be turned "on" and
+"off" (toggled) from this page.
+
+If you encounter problems, try loading the page without Privoxy. If that helps,
+enter the URL where you have the problems into the browser based rule tracing
+utility. See which rules apply and why, and then try turning them off for that
+site one after the other, until the problem is gone. When you have found the
+culprit, you might want to turn the rest on again.
+
+If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to read more
+about the actions concept or even dive deep into the Appendix on actions.
+
+If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
+Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the section
+"Contacting the Developers" below.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+6.1. Command Line Options
+
+Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options:
+
+ * --version
+
+ Print version info and exit. Unix only.
+
+ * --help
+
+ Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
+
+ * --no-daemon
+
+ Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group leader, and
+ don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
+
+ * --pidfile FILE
+
+ On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit. Failure
+ to create or delete the FILE is non-fatal. If no FILE option is given, no
+ PID file will be used. Unix only.
+
+ * --user USER[.GROUP]
+
+ After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of USER, and if
+ included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not sufficient to do
+ so. Unix only.
+
+ * configfile
+
+ If no configfile is included on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
+ file named "config" in the current directory (except on Win32 where it will
+ look for "config.txt" instead). Specify full path to avoid confusion. If no
+ config file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7. Privoxy Configuration
+
+All Privoxy configuration is stored in text files. These files can be edited
+with a text editor. Many important aspects of Privoxy can also be controlled
+easily with a web browser.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
+
+Privoxy's user interface can be reached through the special URL http://
+config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/), which is a built-in page and works
+without Internet access. You will see the following section:
+
+ Privoxy Menu
+ ? View & change the current configuration
+ ? View the source code version numbers
+ ? View the request headers.
+ ? Look up which actions apply to a URL and why
+ ? Toggle Privoxy on or off
+
+
+This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
+"actions list", which is where the ad, banner, cookie, and URL blocking magic
+is configured as well as other advanced features of Privoxy. This is an easy
+way to adjust various aspects of Privoxy configuration. The actions file, and
+other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
+
+"Toggle Privoxy On or Off" is handy for sites that might have problems with
+your current actions and filters. You can in fact use it as a test to see
+whether it is Privoxy causing the problem or not. Privoxy continues to run as a
+proxy in this case, but all filtering is disabled. There is even a toggle
+Bookmarklet offered, so that you can toggle Privoxy with one click from your
+browser.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2. Configuration Files Overview
+
+For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in /etc/privoxy/
+by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and AmigaOS these are all in the same
+directory as the Privoxy executable. The name and number of configuration files
+has changed from previous versions, and is subject to change as development
+progresses.
+
+The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though some
+settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the principle
+configuration files are:
+
+ * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and
+ AmigaOS and config.txt on Windows. This is a required file.
+
+ * default.action (the main actions file) is used to define the default
+ settings for various "actions" relating to images, banners, pop-ups, access
+ restrictions, banners and cookies.
+
+ Multiple actions files may be defined in config. These are processed in the
+ order they are defined. Local customizations and locally preferred
+ exceptions to the default policies as defined in default.action are
+ probably best applied in user.action, which should be preserved across
+ upgrades. standard.action is also included. This is mostly for Privoxy's
+ internal use.
+
+ There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from http://
+ config.privoxy.org/show-status/ (Shortcut: http://p.p/show-status/) for the
+ various actions files.
+
+ * default.filter (the filter file) can be used to re-write the raw page
+ content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript,
+ and whatever else lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only
+ pre-defined here; whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
+
+All files use the "#" character to denote a comment (the rest of the line will
+be ignored) angd understand line continuation through placing a backslash ("\")
+as the very last character in a line. If the # is preceded by a backslash, it
+looses its special function. Placing a # in front of an otherwise valid
+configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
+out" that line.
+
+The actions files and default.filter can use Perl style regular expressions for
+maximum flexibility.
+
+After making any changes, there is no need to restart Privoxy in order for the
+changes to take effect. Privoxy detects such changes automatically. Note,
+however, that it may take one or two additional requests for the change to take
+effect. When changing the listening address of Privoxy, these "wake up"
+requests must obviously be sent to the old listening address.
+
+While under development, the configuration content is subject to change. The
+below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this. Also, what
+constitutes a "default" setting, may change, so please check all your
+configuration files on important issues.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3. The Main Configuration File
+
+Again, the main configuration file is named config on Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2,
+and config.txt on Windows. Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword
+followed by a list of values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces
+or tabs). For example:
+
+ confdir /etc/privoxy
+
+
+Assigns the value /etc/privoxy to the option confdir and thus indicates that
+the configuration directory is named "/etc/privoxy/".
+
+All options in the config file except for confdir and logdir are optional.
+Watch out in the below description for what happens if you leave them unset.
+
+The main config file controls all aspects of Privoxy's operation that are not
+location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter where you may be
+surfing).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1. Configuration and Log File Locations
+
+Privoxy can (and normally does) use a number of other files for additional
+configuration and logging. This section of the configuration file tells Privoxy
+where to find those other files.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.1. confdir
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The directory where the other configuration files are located
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Path name
+
+Default value:
+
+ /etc/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Mandatory
+
+Notes:
+
+ No trailing "/", please
+
+ When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
+ per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of "confdir". For now, the
+ configuration directory structure is flat, except for confdir/templates,
+ where the HTML templates for CGI output reside (e.g. Privoxy's 404 error
+ page).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.2. logdir
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where logfile and jarfile
+ are located)
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Path name
+
+Default value:
+
+ /var/log/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Mandatory
+
+Notes:
+
+ No trailing "/", please
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.3. actionsfile
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The actions file(s) to use
+
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to confdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ standard # Internal purposes, recommended not editing
+
+ default # Main actions file
+
+ user # User customizations
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
+
+Notes:
+
+ Multiple actionsfile lines are OK and are in fact recommended!
+
+ The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
+ purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the "main" actions
+ file maintained by the developers, and user.action, where you can make your
+ personal additions.
+
+ There is no point in using Privoxy without an actions file.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.4. filterfile
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The filter file to use
+
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to confdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ default.filter (Unix) or default.filter.txt (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all +filter{name} actions in
+ the actions files are turned off
+
+Notes:
+
+ The "default.filter" file contains content modification rules that use
+ "regular expressions". These rules permit powerful changes on the content
+ of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances,
+ re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun replacing
+ "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck" wherever it appears on a Web page.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.5. logfile
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The log file to use
+
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to logdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ logfile (Unix) or privoxy.log (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (stderr).
+
+Notes:
+
+ The windows version will additionally log to the console.
+
+ The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
+ of detail and number of messages are set with the debug option (see below).
+ The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with Privoxy (e.g.,
+ it's not blocking an ad you think it should block) but in most cases you
+ probably will never look at it.
+
+ Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
+ periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
+ (see "man cron"). For Red Hat, a logrotate script has been included.
+
+ On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like "/var/log/privoxy.* +1024k
+ 644 nobody.nogroup" in /etc/logfiles, with the effect that cron.daily will
+ automatically archive, gzip, and empty the log, when it exceeds 1M size.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.6. jarfile
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The file to store intercepted cookies in
+
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to logdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ jarfile (Unix) or privoxy.jar (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Intercepted cookies are not stored at all.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1.7. trustfile
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The trust file to use
+
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to confdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset (commented out). When activated: trust (Unix) or trust.txt (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ The whole trust mechanism is turned off.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and
+ should be used with care. It is NOT recommended for the casual user.
+
+ If you specify a trust file, Privoxy will only allow access to sites that
+ are named in the trustfile. You can also mark sites as trusted referrers
+ (with +), with the effect that access to untrusted sites will be granted,
+ if a link from a trusted referrer was used. The link target will then be
+ added to the "trustfile". Possible applications include limiting Internet
+ access for children.
+
+ If you use + operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over
+ time.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.2. Local Set-up Documentation
+
+If you intend to operate Privoxy for more users that just yourself, it might be
+a good idea to let them know how to reach you, what you block and why you do
+that, your policies etc.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.2.1. trust-info-url
+
+Specifies:
+
+ A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an
+ untrusted page is denied.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ URL
+
+Default value:
+
+ Two example URL are provided
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism
+ has been activated. (See trustfile above.)
+
+ If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
+ documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here. Use
+ multiple times for multiple URLs.
+
+ The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
+ locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first
+ place!
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.2.2. admin-address
+
+Specifies:
+
+ An email address to reach the proxy administrator.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Email address
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
+
+Notes:
+
+ If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local
+ Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.2.3. proxy-info-url
+
+Specifies:
+
+ A URL to documentation about the local Privoxy setup, configuration or
+ policies.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ URL
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user
+ interface.
+
+Notes:
+
+ If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local
+ Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown.
+
+ This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.3. Debugging
+
+These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem. Note that you might
+also want to invoke Privoxy with the --no-daemon command line option when
+debugging.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.3.1. debug
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Key values that determine what information gets logged.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Integer values
+
+Default value:
+
+ 12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Nothing gets logged.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The available debug levels are:
+
+ debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
+ debug 2 # show each connection status
+ debug 4 # show I/O status
+ debug 8 # show header parsing
+ debug 16 # log all data into the logfile
+ debug 32 # debug force feature
+ debug 64 # debug regular expression filter
+ debug 128 # debug fast redirects
+ debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
+ debug 512 # Common Log Format
+ debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
+ debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
+ debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
+
+ To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use multiple
+ debug lines.
+
+ A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request as
+ it happens. 1, 4096 and 8192 are highly recommended so that you will notice
+ when things go wrong. The other levels are probably only of interest if you
+ are hunting down a specific problem. They can produce a hell of an output
+ (especially 16).
+
+ The reporting of fatal errors (i.e. ones which crash Privoxy) is always on
+ and cannot be disabled.
+
+ If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set "debug 512" ONLY
+ and not enable anything else.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.3.2. single-threaded
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Whether to run only one server thread
+
+Type of value:
+
+ None
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability
+ to serve multiple requests simultaneously.
+
+Notes:
+
+ This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never need to
+ use it. It will drastically reduce performance.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4. Access Control and Security
+
+This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects of
+Privoxy's configuration.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4.1. listen-address
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The IP address and TCP port on which Privoxy will listen for client
+ requests.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ [IP-Address]:Port
+
+Default value:
+
+ localhost:8118
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended
+ for home users who run Privoxy on the same machine as their browser.
+
+Notes:
+
+ You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
+
+ If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
+ serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well,
+ you will need to override the default.
+
+ If you leave out the IP address, Privoxy will bind to all interfaces
+ (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable from the Internet. In
+ that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's) (see "ACLs" below),
+ or a firewall.
+
+Example:
+
+ Suppose you are running Privoxy on a machine which has the address
+ 192.168.0.1 on your local private network (192.168.0.0) and has another
+ outside connection with a different address. You want it to serve requests
+ from inside only:
+
+ listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4.2. toggle
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Initial state of "toggle" status
+
+Type of value:
+
+ 1 or 0
+
+Default value:
+
+ 1
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Act as if toggled on
+
+Notes:
+
+ If set to 0, Privoxy will start in "toggled off" mode, i.e. behave like a
+ normal, content-neutral proxy. See enable-remote-toggle below. This is not
+ really useful anymore, since toggling is much easier via the web interface
+ then via editing the conf file.
+
+ The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray if
+ this option is present.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4.3. enable-remote-toggle
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Whether or not the web-based toggle feature may be used
+
+Type of value:
+
+ 0 or 1
+
+Default value:
+
+ 1
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
+
+Notes:
+
+ When toggled off, Privoxy acts like a normal, content-neutral proxy, i.e.
+ it acts as if none of the actions applied to any URL.
+
+ For the time being, access to the toggle feature can not be controlled
+ separately by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can
+ access Privoxy (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can toggle it for all
+ users. So this option is not recommended for multi-user environments with
+ untrusted users.
+
+ Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature,
+ otherwise this option has no effect.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4.4. enable-edit-actions
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Whether or not the web-based actions file editor may be used
+
+Type of value:
+
+ 0 or 1
+
+Default value:
+
+ 1
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
+
+Notes:
+
+ For the time being, access to the editor can not be controlled separately
+ by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can access Privoxy
+ (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can modify its configuration for all
+ users. So this option is not recommended for multi-user environments with
+ untrusted users.
+
+ Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature,
+ otherwise this option has no effect.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Who can access what.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ src_addr[/src_masklen] [dst_addr[/dst_masklen]]
+
+ Where src_addr and dst_addr are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or
+ valid DNS names, and src_masklen and dst_masklen are subnet masks in CIDR
+ notation, i.e. integer values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in
+ bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole destination part are
+ optional.
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Don't restrict access further than implied by listen-address
+
+Notes:
+
+ Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
+ administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. For a
+ typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that Privoxy only
+ listens on the localhost or internal (home) network address by means of the
+ listen-address option.
+
+ Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a
+ substitute for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic
+ security weaknesses.
+
+ Multiple ACL lines are OK. If any ACLs are specified, then the Privoxy
+ talks only to IP addresses that match at least one permit-access line and
+ don't match any subsequent deny-access line. In other words, the last match
+ wins, with the default being deny-access.
+
+ If Privoxy is using a forwarder (see forward below) for a particular
+ destination URL, the dst_addr that is examined is the address of the
+ forwarder and NOT the address of the ultimate target. This is necessary
+ because it may be impossible for the local Privoxy to determine the IP
+ address of the ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
+
+ You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address
+ lookups take time. All DNS names must resolve! You can not use domain
+ patterns like "*.org" or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to
+ multiple IP addresses, only the first one is used.
+
+ Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
+ if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other
+ sites.
+
+Examples:
+
+ Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and listen-address are
+ set: "localhost" is OK. The absence of a dst_addr implies that all
+ destination addresses are OK:
+
+ permit-access localhost
+
+ Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
+ nothing but www.example.com:
+
+ permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
+
+ Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
+ with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access
+ www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
+
+ permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
+ deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.4.6. buffer-limit
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Size in Kbytes
+
+Default value:
+
+ 4096
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
+
+Notes:
+
+ For content filtering, i.e. the +filter and +deanimate-gif actions, it is
+ necessary that Privoxy buffers the entire document body. This can be
+ potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending data
+ indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
+ Hence this option.
+
+ When a document buffer size reaches the buffer-limit, it is flushed to the
+ client unfiltered and no further attempt to filter the rest of the document
+ is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads running, which might
+ require up to buffer-limit Kbytes each, unless you have enabled
+ "single-threaded" above.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.5. Forwarding
+
+This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of multiple
+proxies. It can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
+accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains through an
+anonymous public proxy (see e.g. http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm) Or to
+use a caching proxy to speed up browsing. Or chaining to a parent proxy may be
+necessary because the machine that Privoxy runs on has no direct Internet
+access.
+
+Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. Privoxy supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS
+4A protocols.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.5.1. forward
+
+Specifies:
+
+ To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ target_domain[:port] http_parent[/port]
+
+ Where target_domain is a domain name pattern (see the chapter on domain
+ matching in the default.action file), http_parent is the address of the
+ parent HTTP proxy as an IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or as a
+ valid DNS name (or "." to denote "no forwarding", and the optional port
+ parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
+
+Notes:
+
+ If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP
+ proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
+
+ Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match
+ wins.
+
+Examples:
+
+ Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443
+ (which it doesn't handle):
+
+ forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
+ forward :443 .
+
+ Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests to
+ that ISP's sites:
+
+ forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
+ forward .example-isp.net .
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific
+ requests should be routed.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ target_domain[:port] socks_proxy[/port] http_parent[/port]
+
+ Where target_domain is a domain name pattern (see the chapter on domain
+ matching in the default.action file), http_parent and socks_proxy are IP
+ addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names (http_parent may be
+ "." to denote "no HTTP forwarding"), and the optional port parameters are
+ TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Don't use SOCKS proxies.
+
+Notes:
+
+ Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match
+ wins.
+
+ The difference between forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a is that in the
+ SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the
+ SOCKS server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
+
+ If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP
+ proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
+ a SOCKS proxy.
+
+Examples:
+
+ From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all "internal"
+ domains, but everything outbound goes through their ISP's proxy by way of
+ example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to the Internet.
+
+ forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
+ forward .example.com .
+
+ A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent
+ looks like this:
+
+ forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples
+
+If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content only to
+their subscribers, you can configure multiple Privoxies which have connections
+to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that your users
+can see the internal content of all ISPs.
+
+Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.net. And host-b has a PPP
+connection to isp-b.net. Both run Privoxy. Their forwarding configuration can
+look like this:
+
+host-a:
+
+ forward .*. .
+ forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
+
+host-b:
+
+ forward .*. .
+ forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
+
+Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either host-a or host-b
+and be able to browse the internal content of both isp-a and isp-b.
+
+If you intend to chain Privoxy and squid locally, then chain as browser ->
+squid -> privoxy is the recommended way.
+
+Assuming that Privoxy and squid run on the same box, your squid configuration
+could then look like this:
+
+ # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
+ cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
+
+ # Define ACL for protocol FTP
+ acl ftp proto FTP
+
+ # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
+ always_direct allow ftp
+
+ # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
+ never_direct allow all
+
+You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to squid's address
+and port. Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult http_port in
+squid.conf.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.6. Windows GUI Options
+
+Privoxy has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI interface:
+
+If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate when
+"Privoxy" is active. To turn off, set to 0.
+
+ activity-animation 1
+
+
+If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the console window:
+
+ log-messages 1
+
+
+If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer, i.e. the amount
+of memory used for the log messages displayed in the console window, will be
+limited to "log-max-lines" (see below).
+
+Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and eat
+up all your memory!
+
+ log-buffer-size 1
+
+
+log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log buffer. See above.
+
+ log-max-lines 200
+
+
+If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will highlight portions of the
+log messages with a bold-faced font:
+
+ log-highlight-messages 1
+
+
+The font used in the console window:
+
+ log-font-name Comic Sans MS
+
+
+Font size used in the console window:
+
+ log-font-size 8
+
+
+"show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Privoxy will appear as a button on
+the Task bar when minimized:
+
+ show-on-task-bar 0
+
+
+If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button will minimize
+Privoxy instead of closing the program (close with the exit option on the File
+menu).
+
+ close-button-minimizes 1
+
+
+The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version of Privoxy.
+If this option is used, Privoxy will disconnect from and hide the command
+console.
+
+ #hide-console
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4. Actions Files
+
+The actions files are used to define what actions Privoxy takes for which URLs,
+and thus determines how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP
+content and transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts
+thereof). There are three such files included with Privoxy, with slightly
+different purposes. default.action sets the default policies. standard.action
+is used by Privoxy and the web based editor to set pre-defined values (and
+normally should not be edited). Local exceptions are best done in user.action.
+The content of these can all be viewed and edited from http://
+config.privoxy.org/show-status.
+
+Anything you want can be blocked, including ads, banners, or just some
+obnoxious URL that you would rather not see is done here. Cookies can be
+accepted or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e.
+not written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
+fooled, and much more. See below for a complete list of available actions.
+
+An actions file typically has sections. Near the top, "aliases" are optionally
+defined (discussed below), then the default set of rules which will apply
+universally to all sites and pages. And then below that, exceptions to the
+defined universal policies.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.1. Finding the Right Mix
+
+Note that some actions like cookie suppression or script disabling may render
+some sites unusable, which rely on these techniques to work properly. Finding
+the right mix of actions is not easy and certainly a matter of personal taste.
+In general, it can be said that the more "aggressive" your default settings (in
+the top section of the actions file) are, the more exceptions for "trusted"
+sites you will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup
+windows per default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites
+that you regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content,
+like maybe your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
+
+We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
+distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
+things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
+Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again
+:).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.2. How to Edit
+
+The easiest way to edit the "actions" files is with a browser by using our
+browser-based editor, which can be reached from http://config.privoxy.org/
+show-status.
+
+If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit
+the the actions files.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs
+
+Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections, like the "
+alias" sections which will be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on
+regular sections: They have a heading line (often split up to multiple lines
+for readability) which consist of a list of actions, separated by whitespace
+and enclosed in curly braces. Below that, there is a list of URL patterns, each
+on a separate line.
+
+To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
+compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of
+applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading of
+the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for the same
+URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not, the effects
+are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the "+handle-as-image" and "+block"
+actions).
+
+You can trace this process by visiting http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info.
+
+More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, Anatomy of an Action.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Privoxy User Manual
+7.4.4. Patterns
- By: Privoxy Developers
-
- $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.57 2002/03/24 20:33:30 hal9 Exp $
-
- The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure
- and use Privoxy. Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering
- capabilities for protecting privacy, filtering web page content,
- managing cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners,
- pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet Junk. Privoxy has a very flexible
- configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
- tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and
- multi-user networks.
-
- You can find the latest version of the user manual at
- [1]http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Table of Contents
- 1. [2]Introduction
-
- 1.1. [3]New Features
-
- 2. [4]Installation
-
- 2.1. [5]Source
- 2.2. [6]Red Hat
- 2.3. [7]SuSE
- 2.4. [8]OS/2
- 2.5. [9]Windows
- 2.6. [10]Other
-
- 3. [11]Privoxy Configuration
-
- 3.1. [12]Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
- 3.2. [13]Configuration Files Overview
- 3.3. [14]The Main Configuration File
-
- 3.3.1. [15]Defining Other Configuration Files
- 3.3.2. [16]Other Configuration Options
- 3.3.3. [17]Access Control List (ACL)
- 3.3.4. [18]Forwarding
- 3.3.5. [19]Windows GUI Options
-
- 3.4. [20]The Actions File
-
- 3.4.1. [21]URL Domain and Path Syntax
- 3.4.2. [22]Actions
- 3.4.3. [23]Aliases
-
- 3.5. [24]The Filter File
- 3.6. [25]Templates
-
- 4. [26]Quickstart to Using Privoxy
-
- 4.1. [27]Command Line Options
-
- 5. [28]Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
- 6. [29]Copyright and History
-
- 6.1. [30]License
- 6.2. [31]History
-
- 7. [32]See also
- 8. [33]Appendix
-
- 8.1. [34]Regular Expressions
-
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
-
- 8.2. [35]Privoxy's Internal Pages
- 8.3. [36]Anatomy of an Action
-
-1. Introduction
+Generally, a pattern has the form <domain>/<path>, where both the <domain> and
+<path> are optional. (This is why the pattern / matches all URLs).
- Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
- protecting privacy, filtering and modifying web page content, managing
- cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and
- other obnoxious Internet Junk. Privoxy has a very flexible
- configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
- tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and
- multi-user networks.
-
- Privoxy is derived from Internet Junkbuster by Junkbusters
- Corporation, which is no longer under development. Many enhancements
- and new features have been added.
-
- This documentation is included with the current BETA version of
- Privoxy and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date
- reference for the time being is still the comments in the source files
- and in the individual configuration files. Development of version 3.0
- is currently nearing completion, and includes many significant changes
- and enhancements over earlier versions. The target release date for
- stable v3.0 is "soon" ;-)
+www.example.com/
- Since this is a BETA version, not all new features are well tested.
- This documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially
- with CVS sources). And there may be bugs, though hopefully not many!
- _________________________________________________________________
+ is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to www.example.com,
+ regardless of which document on that server is requested.
-1.1. New Features
-
- In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional feature of ad and
- banner blocking and cookie management, Privoxy provides new features,
- some of them currently under development:
+www.example.com
- * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility
- ([37]http://p.p). Browser-based tracing of rule and filter
- effects.
- * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
- * HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 1.1 features are supported).
- * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the
- configuration files, and generally a more sophisticated and
- flexible configuration syntax over previous versions.
- * GIF de-animation.
- * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size,
- invisible "web-bugs", JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse, etc.)
- * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
- * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
- * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
- * User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
- * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
- * Builds from source on most UNIX-like systems. Packages available
- for: Linux (RedHat, SuSE, or Debian), Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac
- OSX, OS/2, HP-UX 11 and AmigaOS.
- * In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile
- over-all.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing / may be
+ omitted.
-2. Installation
-
- Privoxy is available as raw source code, or pre-compiled binaries. See
- the [38]Privoxy Home Page for binaries and current release info.
- Privoxy is also available via [39]CVS. This is the recommended
- approach at this time. But please be aware that CVS is constantly
- changing, and it may break in mysterious ways.
- _________________________________________________________________
+www.example.com/index.html
-2.1. Source
-
- For gzipped tar archives, unpack the source:
+ matches only the single document /index.html on www.example.com.
- tar xzvf privoxy-2.9.13-beta-src* [.tgz or .tar.gz]
- cd privoxy-2.9.13-beta
-
- For retrieving the current CVS sources, you'll need the CVS package
- installed first. To download CVS source:
+/index.html
- cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa login
- cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa co cu
-rrent
- cd current
-
- This will create a directory named current/, which will contain the
- source tree.
-
- Then, in either case, to build from tarball/CVS source:
-
- ./configure (--help to see options)
- make (the make from gnu, gmake for *BSD)
- su
- make -n install (to see where all the files will go)
- make install (to really install)
-
- For Redhat and SuSE Linux RPM packages, see below.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ matches the document /index.html, regardless of the domain, i.e. on any web
+ server.
-2.2. Red Hat
-
- To build Redhat RPM packages, install source as above. Then:
+index.html
+
+ matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and there
+ is no top-level domain called .html.
- autoheader
- autoconf
- ./configure
- make redhat-dist
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- This will create both binary and src RPMs in the usual places.
- Example:
+7.4.4.1. The Domain Pattern
+
+The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the domain
+starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end. For example:
+
+.example.com
- /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i686/privoxy-2.9.11-1.i686.rpm
+ matches any domain that ENDS in .example.com
- /usr/src/redhat/SRPMS/privoxy-2.9.11-1.src.rpm
+www.
- To install, of course:
+ matches any domain that STARTS with www.
- rpm -Uvv /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i686/privoxy-2.9.11-1.i686.rpm
-
- This will place the Privoxy configuration files in /etc/privoxy/, and
- log files in /var/log/privoxy/.
- _________________________________________________________________
+.example.
-2.3. SuSE
-
- To build SuSE RPM packages, install source as above. Then:
+ matches any domain that CONTAINS .example. (Correctly speaking: It matches
+ any FQDN that contains example as a domain.)
- autoheader
- autoconf
- ./configure
- make suse-dist
+Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
+themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: "*" stands for zero
+or more arbitrary characters, "?" stands for any single character, you can
+define character classes in square brackets and all of that can be freely
+mixed:
- This will create both binary and src RPMs in the usual places.
- Example:
+ad*.example.com
- /usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/privoxy-2.9.11-1.i686.rpm
+ matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com", etc but not
+ "sfads.example.com"
- /usr/src/packages/SRPMS/privoxy-2.9.11-1.src.rpm
+*ad*.example.com
- To install, of course:
+ matches all of the above, and then some.
- rpm -Uvv /usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/privoxy-2.9.11-1.i686.rpm
-
- This will place the Privoxy configuration files in /etc/privoxy/, and
- log files in /var/log/privoxy/.
- _________________________________________________________________
+.?pix.com
-2.4. OS/2
-
- Privoxy is packaged in a WarpIN self- installing archive. The
- self-installing program will be named depending on the release
- version, something like: ijbos2_setup_1.2.3.exe. In order to install
- it, simply run this executable or double-click on its icon and follow
- the WarpIN installation panels. A shadow of the Privoxy executable
- will be placed in your startup folder so it will start automatically
- whenever OS/2 starts.
+ matches www.ipix.com, pictures.epix.com, a.b.c.d.e.upix.com etc.
- The directory you choose to install Privoxy into will contain all of
- the configuration files.
+www[1-9a-ez].example.c*
- If you would like to build binary images on OS/2 yourself, you will
- need a few Unix-like tools: autoconf, autoheader and sh. These tools
- will be used to create the required config.h file, which is not part
- of the source distribution because it differs based on platform. You
- will also need a compiler. The distribution has been created using IBM
- VisualAge compilers, but you can use any compiler you like. GCC/EMX
- has the disadvantage of needing to be single-threaded due to a
- limitation of EMX's implementation of the select() socket call.
+ matches www1.example.com, www4.example.cc, wwwd.example.cy,
+ wwwz.example.com etc., but not wwww.example.com.
- In addition to needing the source code distribution as outlined
- earlier, you will want to extract the os2seutp directory from CVS:
- cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa login
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa co os2
-setup
+7.4.4.2. The Path Pattern
- This will create a directory named os2setup/, which will contain the
- Makefile.vac makefile and os2build.cmd which is used to completely
- create the binary distribution. The sequence of events for building
- the executable for yourself goes something like this:
- cd current
- autoheader
- autoconf
- sh configure
- cd ..\os2setup
- nmake -f Makefile.vac
+Privoxy uses Perl compatible regular expressions (through the PCRE library) for
+matching the path.
- You will see this sequence laid out in os2build.cmd.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-2.5. Windows
+There is an Appendix with a brief quick-start into regular expressions, and
+full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
+at http://www.pcre.org/man.txt. You might also find the Perl man page on
+regular expressions (man perlre) useful, which is available on-line at http://
+www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html.
- Click-click. (I need help on this. Not a clue here. Also for
- configuration section below. HB.)
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-2.6. Other
+Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the "/", i.e. it
+matches as if it would start with a "^" (regular expression speak for the
+beginning of a line).
- Some quick notes on other Operating Systems.
+Please also note that matching in the path is case INSENSITIVE by default, but
+you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the "(?
+-i)" switch: www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.* will match only documents whose
+path starts with PaTtErN in exactly this capitalization.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5. Actions
+
+All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
+somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a "+", and
+turned off if preceded with a "-". So a "+action" means "do that action", e.g.
+"+block" means please "block the following URL patterns".
+
+Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly braces (e.g.
+{+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs (or patterns that match URLs) to
+which the action applies. There are three classes of actions:
+
+ * Boolean, i.e the action can only be "on" or "off". Examples:
- For FreeBSD (and other *BSDs?), the build will require gmake instead
- of the included make. gmake is available from [40]http://www.gnu.org.
- The rest should be the same as above for Linux/Unix.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ {+name} # enable this action
+ {-name} # disable this action
+
-3. Privoxy Configuration
-
- All Privoxy configuration is kept in text files. These files can be
- edited with a text editor. Many important aspects of Privoxy can also
- be controlled easily with a web browser.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ * Parameterized, e.g. "+/-hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }", where some value
+ is required in order to enable this type of action. Examples:
+
+ {+name{param}} # enable action and set parameter to "param"
+ {-name} # disable action ("parameter") can be omitted
+
+
+ * Multi-value, e.g. "{+/-add-header{Name: value}}" or "{+/-send-wafer{name=
+ value}}"), where some value needs to be defined in addition to simply
+ enabling the action. Examples:
-3.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
+ {+name{param=value}} # enable action and set "param" to "value"
+ {-name{param=value}} # remove the parameter "param" completely
+ {-name} # disable this action totally and remove param too
+
+
+If nothing is specified in any actions file, no "actions" are taken. So in this
+case Privoxy would just be a normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You
+must specifically enable the privacy and blocking features you need (although
+the provided default actions files will give a good starting point).
- Privoxy can be reached by the special URL [41]http://p.p/ (or
- alternately [42]http://www.privoxy.org/config/), which is an internal
- page. You will see the following section:
-
-Please choose from the following options:
-
- * Show information about the current configuration
- * Show the source code version numbers
- * Show the client's request headers.
- * Show which actions apply to a URL and why
- * Toggle Privoxy on or off
- * Edit the actions list
-
-
- This should be self-explanatory. Note the last item is an editor for
- the "actions list", which is where much of the ad, banner, cookie, and
- URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
- Privoxy. This is an easy way to adjust various aspects of Privoxy
- configuration. The actions file, and other configuration files, are
- explained in detail below. Privoxy will automatically detect any
- changes to these files.
-
- "Toggle Privoxy On or Off" is handy for sites that might have problems
- with your current actions and filters, or just to test if a site
- misbehaves, whether it is Privoxy causing the problem or not. Privoxy
- continues to run as a proxy in this case, but all filtering is
- disabled.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-3.2. Configuration Files Overview
-
- For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
- /etc/privoxy/ by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and AmigaOS these are
- all in the same directory as the Privoxy executable. The name and
- number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and
- is subject to change as development progresses.
-
- The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
- possibly aggressive by some standards. For the time being, there are
- only three default configuration files (this will change in time):
-
- * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD,
- OS/2, and AmigaOS and config.txt on Windows.
- * The default.action file is used to define various "actions"
- relating to images, banners, pop-ups, access restrictions, banners
- and cookies. There is a CGI based editor for this file that can be
- accessed via [43]http://p.p. (Other actions files are included as
- well with differing levels of filtering and blocking, e.g.
- ijb-basic.action.)
- * The default.filter file can be used to re-write the raw page
- content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and
- JavaScript, and whatever else lurks on any given web page.
-
- default.action and default.filter can use Perl style regular
- expressions for maximum flexibility. All files use the "#" character
- to denote a comment. Such lines are not processed by Privoxy. After
- making any changes, there is no need to restart Privoxy in order for
- the changes to take effect. Privoxy should detect such changes
- automatically.
+Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions to any rules
+you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or in a file that is
+processed later when using multiple actions files). For multi-valued actions,
+the actions are applied in the order they are specified. Actions files are
+processed in the order they are defined in config (the default installation has
+three actions files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match
+more than one action!
+
+The list of valid Privoxy "actions" are:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.1. +add-header
+
+Type:
+
+ Multi-value.
+
+Typical uses:
- While under development, the configuration content is subject to
- change. The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you
- read this. Also, what constitutes a "default" setting, may change, so
- please check all your configuration files on important issues.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-3.3. The Main Configuration File
+ Send a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
+
+Possible values:
+
+ Any value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ {+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}}
+ .example.com
+
+
+Notes:
+
+ This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
+ headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
+ "HTTP headers" are, you definitely don't need to worry about this one.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.2. +block
- Again, the main configuration file is named config on Linux/Unix/BSD
- and OS/2, and config.txt on Windows. Configuration lines consist of an
- initial keyword followed by a list of values, all separated by
- whitespace (any number of spaces or tabs). For example:
-
- blockfile blocklist.ini
+Type:
- Indicates that the blockfile is named "blocklist.ini". (A default
- installation does not use this.)
+ Boolean.
- A "#" indicates a comment. Any part of a line following a "#" is
- ignored, except if the "#" is preceded by a "\".
-
- Thus, by placing a "#" at the start of an existing configuration line,
- you can make it a comment and it will be treated as if it weren't
- there. This is called "commenting out" an option and can be useful to
- turn off features: If you comment out the "logfile" line, Privoxy will
- not log to a file at all. Watch for the "default:" section in each
- explanation to see what happens if the option is left unset (or
- commented out).
-
- Long lines can be continued on the next line by using a "\" as the
- very last character.
+Typical uses:
- There are various aspects of Privoxy behavior that can be tuned.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-3.3.1. Defining Other Configuration Files
-
- Privoxy can use a number of other files to tell it what ads to block,
- what cookies to accept, etc. This section of the configuration file
- tells Privoxy where to find all those other files.
+ Used to block a URL from reaching your browser. The URL may be anything,
+ but is typically used to block ads or other obnoxious content.
- On Windows and AmigaOS, Privoxy looks for these files in the same
- directory as the executable. On Unix and OS/2, Privoxy looks for these
- files in the current working directory. In either case, an absolute
- path name can be used to avoid problems.
+Possible values:
- When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
- per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of "confdir". For
- now, only confdir/templates is used for storing HTML templates for CGI
- results.
+ N/A
+
+Example usage:
+
+ {+block}
+ .banners.example.com
+ .ads.r.us
+
+
+Notes:
+
+ If a URL matches one of the blocked patterns, Privoxy will intercept the
+ URL and display its special "BLOCKED" page instead. If there is sufficient
+ space, a large red banner will appear with a friendly message about why the
+ page was blocked, and a way to go there anyway. If there is insufficient
+ space a smaller "BLOCKED" page will appear without the red banner. Click
+ here to view the default blocked HTML page (Privoxy must be running for
+ this to work as intended!).
+
+ A very important exception is if the URL matches both "+block" and
+ "+handle-as-image", then it will be handled by "+set-image-blocker" (see
+ below). It is important to understand this process, in order to understand
+ how Privoxy is able to deal with ads and other objectionable content.
+
+ The "+filter" action can also perform some of the same functionality as
+ "+block", but by virtue of very different programming techniques, and is
+ most often used for different reasons.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.3. +deanimate-gifs
+
+Type:
- The location of the configuration files:
-
- confdir /etc/privoxy # No trailing /, please.
+ Parameterized.
- The directory where all logging (i.e. logfile and jarfile) takes
- place. No trailing "/", please:
+Typical uses:
- logdir /var/log/privoxy
+ To stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.
- Note that all file specifications below are relative to the above two
- directories!
+Possible values:
- The "default.action" file contains patterns to specify the actions to
- apply to requests for each site. Default: Cookies to and from all
- destinations are kept only during the current browser session (i.e.
- they are not saved to disk). Pop-ups are disabled for all sites. All
- sites are filtered through selected sections of "default.filter". No
- sites are blocked. Privoxy displays a checkboard type pattern for
- filtered ads and other images. The syntax of this file is explained in
- detail [44]below. Other "actions" files are included, and you are free
- to use any of them. They have varying degrees of aggressiveness.
-
- actionsfile default.action
-
- The "default.filter" file contains content modification rules that use
- "regular expressions". These rules permit powerful changes on the
- content of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite JavaScript
- annoyances, re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun
- replacing "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck" wherever it appears on a Web
- page. Default: whatever the developers are playing with :-/
-
- Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
- slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content
- has passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems
- that way since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect
- will be more noticeable on slower connections.
+ "last" or "first"
- filterfile default.filter
-
- The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The
- logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with Privoxy (e.g.,
- it's not blocking an ad you think it should block) but in most cases
- you probably will never look at it.
-
- Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
- periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron
- job (see "man cron"). For Redhat, a logrotate script has been
- included.
-
- On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like "/var/log/privoxy.*
- +1024k 644 nobody.nogroup" in /etc/logfiles, with the effect that
- cron.daily will automatically archive, gzip, and empty the log, when
- it exceeds 1M size.
-
- Default: Log to the a file named logfile. Comment out to disable
- logging.
-
- logfile logfile
-
- The "jarfile" defines where Privoxy stores the cookies it intercepts.
- Note that if you use a "jarfile", it may grow quite large. Default:
- Don't store intercepted cookies.
-
- #jarfile jarfile
-
- If you specify a "trustfile", Privoxy will only allow access to sites
- that are named in the trustfile. You can also mark sites as trusted
- referrers, with the effect that access to untrusted sites will be
- granted, if a link from a trusted referrer was used. The link target
- will then be added to the "trustfile". This is a very restrictive
- feature that typical users most probably want to leave disabled.
- Default: Disabled, don't use the trust mechanism.
-
- #trustfile trust
+Example usage:
- If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some
- on-line documentation about your blocking policy and to specify the
- URL(s) here. They will appear on the page that your users receive when
- they try to access untrusted content. Use multiple times for multiple
- URLs. Default: Don't display links on the "untrusted" info page.
+ {+deanimate-gifs{last}}
+ .example.com
+
- trust-info-url http://www.your-site.com/why_we_block.html
- trust-info-url http://www.your-site.com/what_we_allow.html
- _________________________________________________________________
+Notes:
-3.3.2. Other Configuration Options
-
- This part of the configuration file contains options that control how
- Privoxy operates.
-
- "Admin-address" should be set to the email address of the proxy
- administrator. It is used in many of the proxy-generated pages.
- Default: fill@me.in.please.
-
- #admin-address fill@me.in.please
-
- "Proxy-info-url" can be set to a URL that contains more info about
- this Privoxy installation, it's configuration and policies. It is used
- in many of the proxy-generated pages and its use is highly recommended
- in multi-user installations, since your users will want to know why
- certain content is blocked or modified. Default: Don't show a link to
- on-line documentation.
-
- proxy-info-url http://www.your-site.com/proxy.html
-
- "Listen-address" specifies the address and port where Privoxy will
- listen for connections from your Web browser. The default is to listen
- on the localhost port 8118, and this is suitable for most users. (In
- your web browser, under proxy configuration, list the proxy server as
- "localhost" and the port as "8118").
-
- If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you
- want to serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local
- network) as well, you will need to override the default. The syntax is
- "listen-address [<ip-address>]:<port>". If you leave out the IP
- address, Privoxy will bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your
- machine and may become reachable from the Internet. In that case,
- consider using access control lists (acl's) (see "aclfile" above), or
- a firewall.
-
- For example, suppose you are running Privoxy on a machine which has
- the address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network (192.168.0.0)
- and has another outside connection with a different address. You want
- it to serve requests from inside only:
-
- listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
-
- If you want it to listen on all addresses (including the outside
- connection):
-
- listen-address :8118
-
- If you do this, consider using ACLs (see "aclfile" above). Note: you
- will need to point your browser(s) to the address and port that you
- have configured here. Default: localhost:8118 (127.0.0.1:8118).
-
- The debug option sets the level of debugging information to log in the
- logfile (and to the console in the Windows version). A debug level of
- 1 is informative because it will show you each request as it happens.
- Higher levels of debug are probably only of interest to developers.
-
- debug 1 # GPC = show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
- debug 2 # CONN = show each connection status
- debug 4 # IO = show I/O status
- debug 8 # HDR = show header parsing
- debug 16 # LOG = log all data into the logfile
- debug 32 # FRC = debug force feature
- debug 64 # REF = debug regular expression filter
- debug 128 # = debug fast redirects
- debug 256 # = debug GIF de-animation
- debug 512 # CLF = Common Log Format
- debug 1024 # = debug kill pop-ups
- debug 4096 # INFO = Startup banner and warnings.
- debug 8192 # ERROR = Non-fatal errors
+ De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last frame.
+ This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
+ the option "first" is given, the first frame of the animation is used as
+ the replacement. If "last" is given, the last frame of the animation is
+ used instead, which probably makes more sense for most banner animations,
+ but also has the risk of not showing the entire last frame (if it is only a
+ delta to an earlier frame).
- It is highly recommended that you enable ERROR reporting (debug 8192),
- at least until v3.0 is released.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.4. +downgrade-http-version
+
+Type:
- The reporting of FATAL errors (i.e. ones which crash Privoxy) is
- always on and cannot be disabled.
+ Boolean.
- If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set "debug 512"
- ONLY, do not enable anything else.
+Typical uses:
- Multiple "debug" directives, are OK - they're logical-OR'd together.
+ "+downgrade-http-version" will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to HTTP/
+ 1.0 and downgrade the responses as well.
- debug 15 # same as setting the first 4 listed above
+Possible values:
- Default:
+ N/A
- debug 1 # URLs
- debug 4096 # Info
- debug 8192 # Errors - *we highly recommended enabling this*
+Example usage:
- Privoxy normally uses "multi-threading", a software technique that
- permits it to handle many different requests simultaneously. In some
- cases you may wish to disable this -- particularly if you're trying to
- debug a problem. The "single-threaded" option forces Privoxy to handle
- requests sequentially. Default: Multi-threaded mode.
+ {+downgrade-http-version}
+ .example.com
+
- #single-threaded
+Notes:
- "toggle" allows you to temporarily disable all Privoxy's filtering.
- Just set "toggle 0".
+ Use this action for servers that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that
+ Privoxy doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is only partially implemented.
+ Default is not to downgrade requests. This is an infrequently needed
+ action, and is used to help with rare problem sites only.
- The Windows version of Privoxy puts an icon in the system tray, which
- also allows you to change this option. If you right-click on that icon
- (or select the "Options" menu), one choice is "Enable". Clicking on
- enable toggles Privoxy on and off. This is useful if you want to
- temporarily disable Privoxy, e.g., to access a site that requires
- cookies which you would otherwise have blocked. This can also be
- toggled via a web browser at the Privoxy internal address of
- [45]http://p.p on any platform.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.5. +fast-redirects
+
+Type:
- "toggle 1" means Privoxy runs normally, "toggle 0" means that Privoxy
- becomes a non-anonymizing non-blocking proxy. Default: 1 (on).
+ Boolean.
- toggle 1
+Typical uses:
- For content filtering, i.e. the "+filter" and "+deanimate-gif"
- actions, it is necessary that Privoxy buffers the entire document
- body. This can be potentially dangerous, since a server could just
- keep sending data indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust. With
- nasty consequences.
+ The "+fast-redirects" action enables interception of "redirect" requests
+ from one server to another, which are used to track users.Privoxy can cut
+ off all but the last valid URL in a redirect request and send a local
+ redirect back to your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s).
- The buffer-limit option lets you set the maximum size in Kbytes that
- each buffer may use. When the documents buffer exceeds this size, it
- is flushed to the client unfiltered and no further attempt to filter
- the rest of it is made. Remember that there may multiple threads
- running, which might require increasing the "buffer-limit" Kbytes
- each, unless you have enabled "single-threaded" above.
+Possible values:
- buffer-limit 4069
+ N/A
- To enable the web-based default.action file editor set
- enable-edit-actions to 1, or 0 to disable. Note that you must have
- compiled Privoxy with support for this feature, otherwise this option
- has no effect. This internal page can be reached at [46]http://p.p.
+Example usage:
- Security note: If this is enabled, anyone who can use the proxy can
- edit the actions file, and their changes will affect all users. For
- shared proxies, you probably want to disable this. Default: enabled.
+ {+fast-redirects}
+ .example.com
+
- enable-edit-actions 1
+Notes:
- Allow Privoxy to be toggled on and off remotely, using your web
- browser. Set "enable-remote-toggle"to 1 to enable, and 0 to disable.
- Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this
- feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
+ Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
+ will link to some script on their own server, giving the destination as a
+ parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs resulting
+ from this scheme typically look like: http://some.place/some_script?http://
+ some.where-else.
- Security note: If this is enabled, anyone who can use the proxy can
- toggle it on or off (see [47]http://p.p), and their changes will
- affect all users. For shared proxies, you probably want to disable
- this. Default: enabled.
+ Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
+ URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
+ since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go to.
+ Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your browser
+ ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds the
+ advertisers.
- enable-remote-toggle 1
- _________________________________________________________________
+ This is a normally "on" feature, and often requires exceptions for sites
+ that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
-3.3.3. Access Control List (ACL)
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.6. +filter
- Access controls are included at the request of some ISPs and systems
- administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. Please
- note the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a
- substitute for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing
- basic security weaknesses.
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Typical uses:
+
+ Apply page filtering as defined by named sections of the default.filter
+ file to the specified site(s). "Filtering" can be any modification of the
+ raw page content, including re-writing or deletion of content.
+
+Possible values:
+
+ "+filter" must include the name of one of the section identifiers from
+ default.filter (or whatever filterfile is specified in config).
+
+Example usage (from the current default.filter):
+
+ +filter{html-annoyances}: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
+
+ +filter{js-annoyances}: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
+
+ +filter{content-cookies}: Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content
+
+ +filter{popups}: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
- If no access settings are specified, the proxy talks to anyone that
- connects. If any access settings file are specified, then the proxy
- talks only to IP addresses permitted somewhere in this file and not
- denied later in this file.
+ +filter{frameset-borders}: Give frames a border and make them resizable
- Summary -- if using an ACL:
+ +filter{webbugs}: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user
+ tracking)
- Client must have permission to receive service.
+ +filter{refresh-tags}: Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand
+ setups)
- LAST match in ACL wins.
+ +filter{fun}: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
- Default behavior is to deny service.
+ +filter{nimda}: Remove Nimda (virus) code.
- The syntax for an entry in the Access Control List is:
+ +filter{banners-by-size}: Kill banners by size (very efficient!)
- ACTION SRC_ADDR[/SRC_MASKLEN] [ DST_ADDR[/DST_MASKLEN] ]
+ +filter{shockwave-flash}: Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects
- Where the individual fields are:
+ +filter{crude-parental}: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or
+ "warez"
- ACTION = "permit-access" or "deny-access"
- SRC_ADDR = client hostname or dotted IP address
- SRC_MASKLEN = number of bits in the subnet mask for the source
- DST_ADDR = server or forwarder hostname or dotted IP address
- DST_MASKLEN = number of bits in the subnet mask for the target
+Notes:
- The field separator (FS) is whitespace (space or tab).
+ This is potentially a very powerful feature! And requires a knowledge of
+ regular expressions if you want to "roll your own". Filtering operates on a
+ line by line basis throughout the entire page.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: If Privoxy is using a forwarder (see below) or a
- gateway for a particular destination URL, the DST_ADDR that is
- examined is the address of the forwarder or the gateway and NOT the
- address of the ultimate target. This is necessary because it may be
- impossible for the local Privoxy to determine the address of the
- ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
+ Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to slow
+ down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has passed
+ the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way since the
+ page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more noticeable
+ on slower connections.
- Here are a few examples to show how the ACL features work:
+ Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the "+block" action, i.e. it
+ can be used to block ads and banners. In the overall scheme of things,
+ filtering is one of the first things "Privoxy" does with a web page. So
+ other most other actions are applied to the already "filtered" page.
- "localhost" is OK -- no DST_ADDR implies that ALL destination
- addresses are OK:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.7. +hide-forwarded-for-headers
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Typical uses:
- permit-access localhost
+ Block any existing X-Forwarded-for HTTP header, and do not add a new one.
- A silly example to illustrate permitting any host on the class-C
- subnet with Privoxy to go anywhere:
+Possible values:
- permit-access www.privoxy.com/24
+ N/A
- Except deny one particular IP address from using it at all:
+Example usage:
- deny-access ident.privoxy.com
+ {+hide-forwarded-for-headers}
+ .example.com
+
- You can also specify an explicit network address and subnet mask.
- Explicit addresses do not have to be resolved to be used.
+Notes:
- permit-access 207.153.200.0/24
+ It is fairly safe to leave this on. It does not seem to break many sites.
- A subnet mask of 0 matches anything, so the next line permits
- everyone.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.8. +hide-from-header
+
+Type:
- permit-access 0.0.0.0/0
+ Parameterized.
- Note, you cannot say:
+Typical uses:
- permit-access .org
+ To block the browser from sending your email address in a "From:" header.
- to allow all *.org domains. Every IP address listed must resolve
- fully.
+Possible values:
- An ISP may want to provide a Privoxy that is accessible by "the world"
- and yet restrict use of some of their private content to hosts on its
- internal network (i.e. its own subscribers). Say, for instance the ISP
- owns the Class-B IP address block 123.124.0.0 (a 16 bit netmask). This
- is how they could do it:
+ Keyword: "block", or any user defined value.
- permit-access 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0/0 # other clients can go anywhere
- # with the following exceptions
- :
+Example usage:
- deny-access 0.0.0.0/0 123.124.0.0/16 # block all external request
- s for
- # sites on the ISP's network
- permit 0.0.0.0/0 www.my_isp.com # except for the ISP's main
- # web site
- permit 123.124.0.0/16 0.0.0.0/0 # the ISP's clients can go
- # anywhere
+ {+hide-from-header{block}}
+ .example.com
+
- Note that if some hostnames are listed with multiple IP addresses, the
- primary value returned by DNS (via gethostbyname()) is used. Default:
- Anyone can access the proxy.
- _________________________________________________________________
+Notes:
-3.3.4. Forwarding
+ The keyword "block" will completely remove the header (not to be confused
+ with the "+block" action). Alternately, you can specify any value you
+ prefer to send to the web server.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.9. +hide-referer
- This feature allows chaining of HTTP requests via multiple proxies. It
- can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
- accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains to a
- special purpose filtering proxy such as lpwa.com. Or to use a caching
- proxy to speed up browsing.
+Type:
- It can also be used in an environment with multiple networks to route
- requests via multiple gateways allowing transparent access to multiple
- networks without having to modify browser configurations.
+ Parameterized.
- Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. Privoxy SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A.
- The difference is that SOCKS 4A will resolve the target hostname using
- DNS on the SOCKS server, not our local DNS client.
+Typical uses:
- The syntax of each line is:
+ Don't send the "Referer:" (sic) HTTP header to the web site. Or,
+ alternately send a forged header instead.
- forward target_domain[:port] http_proxy_host[:port]
- forward-socks4 target_domain[:port] socks_proxy_host[:port]
- http_proxy_host[:port]
- forward-socks4a target_domain[:port] socks_proxy_host[:port]
- http_proxy_host[:port]
+Possible values:
- If http_proxy_host is ".", then requests are not forwarded to a HTTP
- proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
+ Prevent the header from being sent with the keyword, "block". Or, "forge" a
+ URL to one from the same server as the request. Or, set to user defined
+ value of your choice.
- Lines are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
+Example usage:
- There is an implicit line equivalent to the following, which specifies
- that anything not finding a match on the list is to go out without
- forwarding or gateway protocol, like so:
+ {+hide-referer{forge}}
+ .example.com
+
- forward .* . # implicit
+Notes:
- In the following common configuration, everything goes to Lucent's
- LPWA, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle):
+ "forge" is the preferred option here, since some servers will not send
+ images back otherwise.
- forward .* lpwa.com:8000
- forward :443 .
+ "+hide-referrer" is an alternate spelling of "+hide-referer". It has the
+ exact same parameters, and can be freely mixed with, "+hide-referer".
+ ("referrer" is the correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification
+ has a bug - it requires it to be spelled as "referer".)
- Some users have reported difficulties related to LPWA's use of "." as
- the last element of the domain, and have said that this can be fixed
- with this:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.10. +hide-user-agent
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Typical uses:
- forward lpwa. lpwa.com:8000
+ To change the "User-Agent:" header so web servers can't tell your browser
+ type. Who's business is it anyway?
- (NOTE: the syntax for specifying target_domain has changed since the
- previous paragraph was written -- it will not work now. More
- information is welcome.)
+Possible values:
- In this fictitious example, everything goes via an ISP's caching
- proxy, except requests to that ISP:
+ Any user defined string.
- forward .* caching.myisp.net:8000
- forward myisp.net .
+Example usage:
- For the @home network, we're told the forwarding configuration is
- this:
+ {+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}}
+ .msn.com
+
- forward .* proxy:8080
+Notes:
+
+ Warning! This breaks many web sites that depend on this in order to
+ determine how the target browser will respond to various requests. Use with
+ caution.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.11. +handle-as-image
+
+Type:
- Also, we're told they insist on getting cookies and JavaScript, so you
- should allow cookies from home.com. We consider JavaScript a potential
- security risk. Java need not be enabled.
+ Boolean.
- In this example direct connections are made to all "internal" domains,
- but everything else goes through Lucent's LPWA by way of the company's
- SOCKS gateway to the Internet.
+Typical uses:
- forward-socks4 .* lpwa.com:8000 firewall.my_company.com:1080
- forward my_company.com .
+ To define what Privoxy should treat automatically as an image, and is an
+ important ingredient of how ads are handled.
- This is how you could set up a site that always uses SOCKS but no
- forwarders:
+Possible values:
- forward-socks4a .* . firewall.my_company.com:1080
+ N/A
- An advanced example for network administrators:
+Example usage:
- If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special
- content to their subscribers, you can configure forwarding to pass
- requests to the specific host that's connected to that ISP so that
- everybody can see all of the content on all of the ISPs.
+ {+handle-as-image}
+ /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)
+
- This is a bit tricky, but here's an example:
+Notes:
- host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.com. And host-b has a PPP
- connection to isp-b.com. host-a can run a Privoxy proxy with
- forwarding like this:
+ This only has meaning if the URL (or pattern) also is "+block"ed, in which
+ case a user definable image can be sent rather than a HTML page. This is
+ integral to the whole concept of ad blocking: the URL must match both a
+ "+block" rule, and "+handle-as-image". (See "+set-image-blocker" below for
+ control over what will actually be displayed by the browser.)
- forward .* .
- forward isp-b.com host-b:8118
+ There is little reason to change the default definition for this action.
- host-b can run a Privoxy proxy with forwarding like this:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.12. +set-image-blocker
+
+Type:
- forward .* .
- forward isp-a.com host-a:8118
+ Parameterized.
- Now, anyone on the Internet (including users on host-a and host-b) can
- set their browser's proxy to either host-a or host-b and be able to
- browse the content on isp-a or isp-b.
+Typical uses:
- Here's another practical example, for University of Kent at Canterbury
- students with a network connection in their room, who need to use the
- University's Squid web cache.
+ Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with both "+block" and
+ "+handle-as-image", e.g an advertisement.
- forward *. ssbcache.ukc.ac.uk:3128 # Use the proxy, except for:
- forward .ukc.ac.uk . # Anything on the same domain as us
- forward * . # Host with no domain specified
- forward 129.12.*.* . # A dotted IP on our /16 network.
- forward 127.*.*.* . # Loopback address
- forward localhost.localdomain . # Loopback address
- forward www.ukc.mirror.ac.uk . # Specific host
+Possible values:
- If you intend to chain Privoxy and squid locally, then chain as
- browser -> squid -> privoxy is the recommended way.
+ There are four available options: "-set-image-blocker" will send a HTML
+ "blocked" page, usually resulting in a "broken image" icon.
+ "+set-image-blocker{blank}" will send a 1x1 transparent GIF image.
+ "+set-image-blocker{pattern}" will send a checkerboard type pattern (the
+ default). And finally, "+set-image-blocker{http://xyz.com}" will send a
+ HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the advantage of
+ the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed up the
+ display.
- Your squid configuration could then look like this:
+Example usage:
- # Define Privoxy as parent cache
+ {+set-image-blocker{blank}}
+ .example.com
+
- cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 0 no-query
+Notes:
- # Define ACL for protocol FTP
- acl FTP proto FTP
- # Do not forward ACL FTP to privoxy
- always_direct allow FTP
- # Do not forward ACL CONNECT (https) to privoxy
- always_direct allow CONNECT
- # Forward the rest to privoxy
- never_direct allow all
- _________________________________________________________________
+ If you want invisible ads, they need to meet criteria as matching both
+ images and blocked actions. And then, "image-blocker" should be set to
+ "blank" for invisibility. Note you cannot treat HTML pages as images in
+ most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to display. So a
+ frame that is an ad, typically cannot be treated as an image. Forcing an
+ "image" in this situation just will not work reliably.
-3.3.5. Windows GUI Options
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Privoxy has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI interface:
+7.4.5.13. +limit-connect
+
+Type:
- If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate
- when "Privoxy" is active. To turn off, set to 0.
+ Parameterized.
- activity-animation 1
+Typical uses:
- If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the
- console window:
+ By default, Privoxy only allows HTTP CONNECT requests to port 443 (the
+ standard, secure HTTPS port). Use "+limit-connect" to disable this
+ altogether, or to allow more ports.
- log-messages 1
+Possible values:
- If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer, i.e. the
- amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the console
- window, will be limited to "log-max-lines" (see below).
+ Any valid port number, or port number range.
- Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow
- infinitely and eat up all your memory!
+Example usages:
- log-buffer-size 1
+ +limit-connect{443} #
+ This is the default and need not be specified.
+ +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
+ +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} #
+ Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
+
- log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log buffer.
- See above.
+Notes:
- log-max-lines 200
+ The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
+ (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: the proxy connects
+ to the server on the specified port, and then short-circuits its
+ connections to the client and to the remote proxy. This can be a big
+ security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be abused as TCP relays
+ very easily.
- If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will highlight
- portions of the log messages with a bold-faced font:
+ If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to forbid
+ CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list of ports and
+ port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and
+ max to 65K).
- log-highlight-messages 1
+ If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
+ change this one.
- The font used in the console window:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.14. +prevent-compression
+
+Type:
- log-font-name Comic Sans MS
+ Boolean.
- Font size used in the console window:
+Typical uses:
- log-font-size 8
+ Prevent the specified websites from compressing HTTP data.
- "show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Privoxy will appear as a
- button on the Task bar when minimized:
+Possible values:
- show-on-task-bar 0
+ N/A
- If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button will
- minimize Privoxy instead of closing the program (close with the exit
- option on the File menu).
+Example usage:
- close-button-minimizes 1
+ {+prevent-compression}
+ .example.com
+
- The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version of
- Privoxy. If this option is used, Privoxy will disconnect from and hide
- the command console.
+Notes:
- #hide-console
- _________________________________________________________________
+ Some websites do this, which can be a problem for Privoxy, since "+filter",
+ "+kill-popups" and "+gif-deanimate" will not work on compressed data. This
+ will slow down connections to those websites, though. Default typically is
+ to turn "prevent-compression" on.
-3.4. The Actions File
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.15. +session-cookies-only
- The "default.action" file (formerly actionsfile or ijb.action) is used
- to define what actions Privoxy takes, and thus determines how images,
- cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and transactions are
- handled. Images can be anything you want, including ads, banners, or
- just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be
- accepted or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser
- session (i.e. not written to disk). Changes to default.action should
- be immediately visible to Privoxy without the need to restart.
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Typical uses:
- The easiest way to edit "actions" file is with a browser by loading
- [48]http://p.p/, and then select "Edit Actions List". A text editor
- can also be used.
+ Allow cookies for the current browser session only.
- To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request
- is compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the
- list of applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated. You
- can trace this process by visiting [49]http://p.p/show-url-info.
+Possible values:
- There are four types of lines in this file: comments (begin with a "#"
- character), actions, aliases and patterns, all of which are explained
- below, as well as the configuration file syntax that Privoxy
- understands.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ N/A
-3.4.1. URL Domain and Path Syntax
+Example usage (disabling):
+
+ {-session-cookies-only}
+ .example.com
+
+
+Notes:
+
+ If websites set cookies, "+session-cookies-only" will make sure they are
+ erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes profiling
+ cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so that you
+ can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all sites, and
+ is the recommended setting.
+
+ "+prevent-*-cookies" actions should be turned off as well (see below), for
+ "+session-cookies-only" to work. Or, else no cookies will get through at
+ all. For, "persistent" cookies that survive across browser sessions, see
+ below as well.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.16. +prevent-reading-cookies
- Generally, a pattern has the form <domain>/<path>, where both the
- <domain> and <path> part are optional. If you only specify a domain
- part, the "/" can be left out:
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Typical uses:
- www.example.com - is a domain only pattern and will match any request
- to "www.example.com".
+ Explicitly prevent the web server from reading any cookies on your system.
- www.example.com/ - means exactly the same.
+Possible values:
- www.example.com/index.html - matches only the single document
- "/index.html" on "www.example.com".
+ N/A
- /index.html - matches the document "/index.html", regardless of the
- domain.
+Example usage:
- index.html - matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a
- domain name and there is no top-level domain called ".html".
+ {+prevent-reading-cookies}
+ .example.com
+
- The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
- domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
- For example:
+Notes:
- .example.com - matches any domain that ENDS in ".example.com".
+ Often used in conjunction with "+prevent-setting-cookies" to disable
+ cookies completely. Note that "+session-cookies-only" requires these to
+ both be disabled (or else it never gets any cookies to cache).
- www. - matches any domain that STARTS with "www".
+ For "persistent" cookies to work (i.e. they survive across browser sessions
+ and reboots), all three cookie settings should be "off" for the specified
+ sites.
- Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain
- names themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: "*"
- stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, "?" stands for any
- single character. And you can define character classes in square
- brackets and they can be freely mixed:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.17. +prevent-setting-cookies
+
+Type:
- ad*.example.com - matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com",
- etc but not "sfads.example.com".
+ Boolean.
- *ad*.example.com - matches all of the above, and then some.
+Typical uses:
- .?pix.com - matches "www.ipix.com", "pictures.epix.com",
- "a.b.c.d.e.upix.com", etc.
+ Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your system.
- www[1-9a-ez].example.com - matches "www1.example.com",
- "www4.example.com", "wwwd.example.com", "wwwz.example.com", etc., but
- not "wwww.example.com".
+Possible values:
- If Privoxy was compiled with "pcre" support (default), Perl compatible
- regular expressions can be used. See the pcre/docs/ directory or "man
- perlre" (also available on
- [50]http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html) for details. A
- brief discussion of regular expressions is in the [51]Appendix. For
- instance:
+ N/A
- /.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpe?g - would match a URL from any domain, with any
- path that includes "advert" followed immediately by one or more
- digits, then a "." and ending in either "jpeg" or "jpg". So we match
- "example.com/ads/advert2.jpg", and
- "www.example.com/ads/banners/advert39.jpeg", but not
- "www.example.com/ads/banners/advert39.gif" (no gifs in the example
- pattern).
+Example usage:
- Please note that matching in the path is case INSENSITIVE by default,
- but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by
- using the "(?-i)" switch:
+ {+prevent-setting-cookies}
+ .example.com
+
- www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.* - will match only documents whose path
- starts with "PaTtErN" in exactly this capitalization.
- _________________________________________________________________
+Notes:
-3.4.2. Actions
+ Often used in conjunction with "+prevent-reading-cookies" to disable
+ cookies completely (see above).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.18. +kill-popups
- Actions are enabled if preceded with a "+", and disabled if preceded
- with a "-". Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly
- braces (e.g. {+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs to which the
- action applies. There are three classes of actions:
+Type:
- * Boolean (e.g. "+/-block"):
- {+name} # enable this action
- {-name} # disable this action
-
- * parameterized (e.g. "+/-hide-user-agent"):
- {+name{param}} # enable action and set parameter to "param"
- {-name} # disable action
-
- * Multi-value (e.g. "{+/-add-header{Name: value}}",
- "{+/-wafer{name=value}}"):
- {+name{param}} # enable action and add parameter "param"
- {-name{param}} # remove the parameter "param"
- {-name} # disable this action totally
-
- If nothing is specified in this file, no "actions" are taken. So in
- this case Privoxy would just be a normal, non-blocking,
- non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the privacy and
- blocking features you need (although the provided default
- default.action file will give a good starting point).
+ Boolean.
- Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. For multi-valued
- actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
+Typical uses:
- The list of valid Privoxy "actions" are:
+ Stop those annoying JavaScript pop-up windows!
- * Add the specified HTTP header, which is not checked for validity.
- You may specify this many times to specify many different headers:
- +add-header{Name: value}
-
- * Block this URL totally. In a default installation, a "blocked" URL
- will result in bright red banner that says "BLOCKED", with a
- reason why it is being blocked.
- +block
-
- * De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last
- frame. This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes,
- not pixels!). If the option "first" is given, the first frame of
- the animation is used as the replacement. If "last" is given, the
- last frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes
- more sense for most banner animations, but also has the risk of
- not showing the entire last frame (if it is only a delta to an
- earlier frame).
- +deanimate-gifs{last}
- +deanimate-gifs{first}
-
- * "+downgrade" will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to HTTP/1.0
- and downgrade the responses as well. Use this action for servers
- that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that Privoxy doesn't handle
- well yet. HTTP/1.1 is only partially implemented. Default is not
- to downgrade requests.
- +downgrade
-
- * Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites.
- Instead, they will link to some script on their own server, giving
- the destination as a parameter, which will then redirect you to
- the final target. URLs resulting from this scheme typically look
- like: http://some.place/some_script?http://some.where-else.
- Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded
- in the URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing
- more traceable, since the server from which you follow such a link
- can see where you go to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and
- time is wasted, while your browser ask the server for one redirect
- after the other. Plus, it feeds the advertisers.
- The "+fast-redirects" option enables interception of these
- requests by Privoxy, who will cut off all but the last valid URL
- in the request and send a local redirect back to your browser
- without contacting the remote site.
- +fast-redirects
-
- * Apply the filters in the section_header section of the
- default.filter file to the site(s). default.filter sections are
- grouped according to like functionality.
- +filter{section_header}
-
- Filter sections that are pre-defined in the supplied
- default.filter include:
-
- html-annoyances: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
+Possible values:
- js-annoyances: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
+ N/A
- no-poups: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
+Example usage:
- frameset-borders: Give frames a border
+ {+kill-popups}
+ .example.com
+
- webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
+Notes:
- no-refresh: Automatic refresh sucks on auto-dialup lines
+ "+kill-popups" uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups that use the
+ window.open() function, etc. This is one of the first actions processed by
+ Privoxy as it contacts the remote web server. This action is not always
+ 100% reliable, and is supplemented by "+filter{popups}".
- fun: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.19. +send-vanilla-wafer
+
+Type:
- nimda: Remove (virus) Nimda code.
+ Boolean.
- banners-by-size: Kill banners by size
+Typical uses:
- crude-parental: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or
- "warez"
+ Sends a cookie for every site stating that you do not accept any copyright
+ on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track you.
- * Block any existing X-Forwarded-for header, and do not add a new
- one:
- +hide-forwarded
-
- * If the browser sends a "From:" header containing your e-mail
- address, this either completely removes the header ("block"), or
- changes it to the specified e-mail address.
- +hide-from{block}
- +hide-from{spam@sittingduck.xqq}
-
- * Don't send the "Referer:" (sic) header to the web site. You can
- block it, forge a URL to the same server as the request (which is
- preferred because some sites will not send images otherwise) or
- set it to a constant string of your choice.
- +hide-referer{block}
- +hide-referer{forge}
- +hide-referer{http://nowhere.com}
-
- * Alternative spelling of "+hide-referer". It has the same
- parameters, and can be freely mixed with, "+hide-referer".
- ("referrer" is the correct English spelling, however the HTTP
- specification has a bug - it requires it to be spelled "referer".)
- +hide-referrer{...}
-
- * Change the "User-Agent:" header so web servers can't tell your
- browser type. Warning! This breaks many web sites. Specify the
- user-agent value you want. Example, pretend to be using Netscape
- on Linux:
- +hide-user-agent{Mozilla (X11; I; Linux 2.0.32 i586)}
-
- * Treat this URL as an image. This only matters if it's also
- "+block"ed, in which case a "blocked" image can be sent rather
- than a HTML page. See "+image-blocker{}" below for the control
- over what is actually sent. If you want invisible ads, they should
- be defined as images and blocked. And also, "image-blocker" should
- be set to "blank".
- +image
-
- * Decides what to do with URLs that end up tagged with "{+block
- +image}", e.g an advertizement. There are five options.
- "-image-blocker" will send a HTML "blocked" page, usually
- resulting in a "broken image" icon. "+image-blocker{blank}" will
- send a 1x1 transparent GIF image. And finally,
- "+image-blocker{http://xyz.com}" will send a HTTP temporary
- redirect to the specified image. This has the advantage of the
- icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed up the
- display. "+image-blocker{pattern}" will send a checkboard type
- pattern
- +image-blocker{blank}
- +image-blocker{pattern}
- +image-blocker{http://p.p/send-banner}
-
- * By default (i.e. in the absence of a "+limit-connect" action),
- Privoxy will only allow CONNECT requests to port 443, which is the
- standard port for https as a precaution.
- The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure
- websites (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
- the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
- short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote
- proxy. This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled
- proxies can be abused as TCP relays very easily.
- If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to
- forbid CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list
- of ports and port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the
- minimum defaulting to 0 and max to 65K):
- +limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need no be
- specified.
- +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
- +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to
- 100
- #and above 500 are OK.
-
- * "+no-compression" prevents the website from compressing the data.
- Some websites do this, which can be a problem for Privoxy, since
- "+filter", "+no-popup" and "+gif-deanimate" will not work on
- compressed data. This will slow down connections to those
- websites, though. Default is "nocompression" is turned on.
- +nocompression
-
- * If the website sets cookies, "no-cookies-keep" will make sure they
- are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes
- profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require
- cookies so that you can log in for transactions. Default: on.
- +no-cookies-keep
-
- * Prevent the website from reading cookies:
- +no-cookies-read
-
- * Prevent the website from setting cookies:
- +no-cookies-set
-
- * Filter the website through a built-in filter to disable those
- obnoxious JavaScript pop-up windows via window.open(), etc. The
- two alternative spellings are equivalent.
- +no-popup
- +no-popups
-
- * This action only applies if you are using a jarfile for saving
- cookies. It sends a cookie to every site stating that you do not
- accept any copyright on cookies sent to you, and asking them not
- to track you. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header they
- could use to track you.
- +vanilla-wafer
-
- * This allows you to add an arbitrary cookie. It can be specified
- multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you like.
- +wafer{name=value}
-
- The meaning of any of the above is reversed by preceding the action
- with a "-", in place of the "+".
-
- Some examples:
-
- Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified
- sites:
-
- # Turn off all persistent cookies
- { +no-cookies-read }
- { +no-cookies-set }
- # Allow cookies for this browser session ONLY
- { +no-cookies-keep }
- # Exceptions to the above, sites that benefit from persistent cookies
- { -no-cookies-read }
- { -no-cookies-set }
- { -no-cookies-keep }
- .javasoft.com
- .sun.com
- .yahoo.com
- .msdn.microsoft.com
- .redhat.com
- # Alternative way of saying the same thing
- {-no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-keep}
- .sourceforge.net
- .sf.net
-
- Now turn off "fast redirects", and then we allow two exceptions:
-
- # Turn them off!
- {+fast-redirects}
-
- # Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
- {-fast-redirects}
- www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
- login.yahoo.com
-
- Turn on page filtering according to rules in the defined sections of
- refilterfile, and make one exception for sourceforge:
-
- # Run everything through the filter file, using only the
- # specified sections:
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}\
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
-
- # Then disable filtering of code from sourceforge!
- {-filter}
- .cvs.sourceforge.net
-
- Now some URLs that we want "blocked", ie we won't see them. Many of
- these use regular expressions that will expand to match multiple URLs:
-
- # Blocklist:
- {+block}
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?ads?[0-9]?(/|[-_.].*|\.(gif|jpe?g))
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?count(er)?(\.cgi|\.dll|\.exe|[?/])
- /.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
- /.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
- /.*/(sponsor)s?[0-9]?/
- /.*/_?(plain|live)?ads?(-banners)?/
- /.*/abanners/
- /.*/ad(sdna_image|gifs?)/
- /.*/ad(server|stream|juggler)\.(cgi|pl|dll|exe)
- /.*/adbanners/
- /.*/adserver
- /.*/adstream\.cgi
- /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/
- /.*/banner_?ads/
- /.*/banners?/
- /.*/banners?\.cgi/
- /.*/cgi-bin/centralad/getimage
- /.*/images/addver\.gif
- /.*/images/marketing/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /.*/popupads/
- /.*/siteads/
- /.*/sponsor.*\.gif
- /.*/sponsors?[0-9]?/
- /.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpg
- /Media/Images/Adds/
- /ad_images/
- /adimages/
- /.*/ads/
- /bannerfarm/
- /grafikk/annonse/
- /graphics/defaultAd/
- /image\.ng/AdType
- /image\.ng/transactionID
- /images/.*/.*_anim\.gif # alvin brattli
- /ip_img/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /rotateads/
- /rotations/
- /worldnet/ad\.cgi
- /cgi-bin/nph-adclick.exe/
- /.*/Image/BannerAdvertising/
- /.*/ad-bin/
- /.*/adlib/server\.cgi
- /autoads/
-
- Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
- misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways a
- site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
- content he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules
- for all sites. See the [52]Appendix for a brief example on
- troubleshooting actions.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-3.4.3. Aliases
-
- Custom "actions", known to Privoxy as "aliases", can be defined by
- combining other "actions". These can in turn be invoked just like the
- built-in "actions". Currently, an alias can contain any character
- except space, tab, "=", "{" or "}". But please use only "a"- "z",
- "0"-"9", "+", and "-". Alias names are not case sensitive, and must be
- defined before anything else in the default.actionfile ! And there can
- only be one set of "aliases" defined.
-
- Now let's define a few aliases:
-
- # Useful customer aliases we can use later. These must come first!
- {{alias}}
- +no-cookies = +no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- -no-cookies = -no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- fragile = -block -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-refere
- r -no-popups
- shop = -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
- +imageblock = +block +image
- #For people who don't like to type too much: ;-)
- c0 = +no-cookies
- c1 = -no-cookies
- c2 = -no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- c3 = +no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
-
- Some examples using our "shop" and "fragile" aliases from above:
-
- # These sites are very complex and require
- # minimal interference.
- {fragile}
- .office.microsoft.com
- .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
- # Shopping sites - still want to block ads.
- {shop}
- .quietpc.com
- .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
- .jungle.com
- .scan.co.uk
- # These shops require pop-ups
- {shop -no-popups}
- .dabs.com
- .overclockers.co.uk
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-3.5. The Filter File
-
- Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
- modification can be removal, or re-writing, of any web page content,
- including tags and non-visible content. The default filter file is
- default.filter, located in the config directory.
-
- The included example file is divided into sections. Each section
- begins with the FILTER keyword, followed by the identifier for that
- section, e.g. "FILTER: webbugs". Each section performs a similar type
- of filtering, such as "html-annoyances".
-
- This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in
- the target page. The expressions can only operate on one line at a
- time. Some examples from the included default default.filter:
-
- Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by
- deleting such references:
-
- FILTER: html-annoyances
- # New browser windows should be resizeable and have a location and st
- atus
- # bar. Make it so.
- #
- s/resizable="?(no|0)"?/resizable=1/ig s/noresize/yesresize/ig
- s/location="?(no|0)"?/location=1/ig s/status="?(no|0)"?/status=1/ig
- s/scrolling="?(no|0|Auto)"?/scrolling=1/ig
- s/menubar="?(no|0)"?/menubar=1/ig
- # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
- #
- s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
- # Is this evil?
- #
- #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
- #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
-
- Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of "Microsoft" with
- "MicroSuck", and have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
-
- FILTER: fun
- s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
- # Buzzword Bingo:
- #
- s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BING
- O!</b></font>/ig
-
- Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
-
- # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
- FILTER: webbugs
- s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\
- s*['"]?1(\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-3.6. Templates
-
- When Privoxy displays one of its internal pages, such as a 404 Not
- Found error page, it uses the appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and
- Unix, these are located in /etc/privoxy/templates by default. These
- may be customized, if desired.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
-
- Install package, then run and enjoy! Privoxy is typically started by
- specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line.
- Example Unix startup command:
-
-
- # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
-
-
- An init script is provided for SuSE and Redhat.
-
- For for SuSE: /etc/rc.d/privoxy start
-
- For RedHat: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
-
- If no configuration file is specified on the command line, Privoxy
- will look for a file named config in the current directory. Except on
- Win32 where it will try config.txt. If no file is specified on the
- command line and no default configuration file can be found, Privoxy
- will fail to start.
-
- Be sure your browser is set to use the proxy which is by default at
- localhost, port 8118. With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set
- under Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy. For
- Internet Explorer: Tools > Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN
- Setting. Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in the appropriate info
- (Address: localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
-
- The included default configuration files should give a reasonable
- starting point, though may be somewhat aggressive in blocking junk.
- You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require
- persistent cookies, and add these to default.action as needed. By
- default, most of these will be accepted only during the current
- browser session, until you add them to the configuration. If you want
- the browser to handle this instead, you will need to edit
- default.action and disable this feature. If you use more than one
- browser, it would make more sense to let Privoxy handle this. In which
- case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
-
- If a particular site shows problems loading properly, try adding it to
- the {fragile} section of default.action. This will turn off most
- actions for this site.
-
- Privoxy is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all 1.1 features are as yet
- implemented. If browsers that support HTTP/1.1 (like Mozilla or recent
- versions of I.E.) experience problems, you might try to force HTTP/1.0
- compatibility. For Mozilla, look under Edit -> Preferences -> Debug ->
- Networking. Or set the "+downgrade" config option in default.action.
-
- After running Privoxy for a while, you can start to fine tune the
- configuration to suit your personal, or site, preferences and
- requirements. There are many, many aspects that can be customized.
- "Actions" (as specified in default.action) can be adjusted by pointing
- your browser to [53]http://p.p/, and then follow the link to "edit the
- actions list". (This is an internal page and does not require Internet
- access.)
-
- In fact, various aspects of Privoxy configuration can be viewed from
- this page, including current configuration parameters, source code
- version numbers, the browser's request headers, and "actions" that
- apply to a given URL. In addition to the default.action file editor
- mentioned above, Privoxy can also be turned "on" and "off" from this
- page.
-
- If you encounter problems, please verify it is a Privoxy bug, by
- disabling Privoxy, and then trying the same page. Also, try another
- browser if possible to eliminate browser or site problems. Before
- reporting it as a bug, see if there is not a configuration option that
- is enabled that is causing the page not to load. You can then add an
- exception for that page or site. If a bug, please report it to the
- developers (see below).
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-4.1. Command Line Options
-
- Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options:
-
- * --version
- Print version info and exit, Unix only.
- * --help
- Print a short usage info and exit, Unix only.
- * --no-daemon
- Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
- leader, don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
- * --pidfile FILE
- On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit.
- Failiure to create or delete the FILE is non-fatal. If no FILE
- option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
- * --user USER[.GROUP]
- After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
- USER, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are
- not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
- * configfile
- If no configfile is included on the command line, Privoxy will
- look for a file named "config" in the current directory (except on
- Win32 where it will look for "config.txt" instead). Specify full
- path to avoid confusion.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-5. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
-
- We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support,
- please note:
-
- * Use the [54]Sourceforge support forum to get help.
- * Submit bugs only thru our [55]Sourceforge bug forum. Make sure
- that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
- that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If
- you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock
- configs to see if the problem is a configuration related bug. And
- if not using the latest development snapshot, please try the
- latest one. Or even better, CVS sources.
- * Submit feature requests only thru our [56]Sourceforge feature
- request forum.
-
- For any other issues, feel free to use the [57]mailing lists.
+Possible values:
- Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
- discussions can join the appropriate mailing list [58]here. Archives
- are available here too.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ N/A
-6. Copyright and History
+Example usage:
+
+ {+send-vanilla-wafer}
+ .example.com
+
+
+Notes:
+
+ This action only applies if you are using a jarfile for saving cookies. Of
+ course, this is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used
+ to track you.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-6.1. License
+7.4.5.20. +send-wafer
- Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
- under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
- Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
- option) any later version.
+Type:
+
+ Multi-value.
+
+Typical uses:
+
+ This allows you to send an arbitrary, user definable cookie.
+
+Possible values:
- This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
- WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
- General Public License for more details, which is available from
- [59]the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
- Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
- _________________________________________________________________
+ User specified cookie name and corresponding value.
-6.2. History
+Example usage:
+
+ {+send-wafer{name=value}}
+ .example.com
+
+
+Notes:
+
+ This can be specified multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you
+ like.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5.21. Actions Examples
+
+Note that the meaning of any of the above examples is reversed by preceding the
+action with a "-", in place of the "+". Also, that some actions are turned on
+in the default section of the actions file, and require little to no additional
+configuration. These are just "on". But, other actions that are turned on the
+default section do typically require exceptions to be listed in the latter
+sections of one of our actions file. For instance, by default no URLs are
+"blocked" (i.e. in the default definitions of default.action). We need
+exceptions to this in order to enable ad blocking in the lower sections. But we
+need to be very selective about what we do block.
+
+Below is a liberally commented default.action file to demonstrate the pieces
+all come together. And to show how exceptions to the default policies can be
+handled. This is followed by a user.action with similar examples.
+
- Privoxy is derived from the Internet Junkbuster, with many improvments
- and enhancements over the original.
+##########################################################################
+# Aliases must be defined *before* they are used. These are
+# easier to remember, and combine several actions into one:
+##########################################################################
+
+# Some useful aliases.
+ +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
+ +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
+
+# Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
+ fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
+ -prevent-cookies -kill-popups
+
+# Shops should be allowed to set persistent cookies
+ shop = -filter -prevent-cookies -prevent-keeping-cookies
+
+
+##########################################################################
+# Begin default action settings. Anything in this section will match
+# all URLs -- UNLESS we have exceptions defined below this section.
+# We will show all potential actions here whether they are on or off.
+# We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all actions are
+# 'off' by default anyway. Shown for completeness only.
+##########################################################################
+ { \
+ -add-header \
+ -block \
+ -deanimate-gifs \
+ -downgrade-http-version \
+ +fast-redirects \
+ +filter{html-annoyances} \
+ +filter{js-annoyances} \
+ -filter{content-cookies} \
+ -filter{popups} \
+ +filter{webbugs} \
+ -filter{refresh-tags} \
+ -filter{fun} \
+ +filter{nimda} \
+ +filter{banners-by-size} \
+ -filter{shockwave-flash} \
+ -filter{crude-prental} \
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers \
+ +hide-from-header{block} \
+ -hide-referrer \
+ -hide-user-agent \
+ -handle-as-image \
+ +set-image-blocker{pattern} \
+ -limit-connect \
+ +prevent-compression \
+ -session-cookies-only \
+ -prevent-reading-cookies \
+ -prevent-setting-cookies \
+ -kill-popups \
+ -send-vanilla-wafer \
+ -send-wafer \
+ }
+ / # forward slash will match all potential URLs patterns.
+
+##########################################################################
+# Default behavior is now set. Time for some exceptions to our
+# default actions.
+##########################################################################
+
+# These sites are very complex and require very minimal interference.
+# We'll disable most actions with our 'fragile' alias.
+ {fragile}
+ .office.microsoft.com
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+
+
+# Shopping sites - not as fragile. We still want to block ads.
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .jungle.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+
+
+# These sites require pop-ups too :( We'll combine our 'shop'
+# alias with two other actions into one rule to allow all popups.
+ {shop -no-popups -filter{popups}}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk
+
+
+# The 'Fast-redirects' action breaks some sites. Disable this action
+# for these known sensitive sites.
+ {-fast-redirects}
+ www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
+ login.yahoo.com
+ edit.europe.yahoo.com
+ .google.com
+ .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
+ .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
+ .nytimes.com
+
+
+# Define which file types will be treated as images. Important
+# for ad blocking.
+ {+handle-as-image}
+ /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)
+
+
+# Now lets list some domains that are known ad generators. And
+# our alias here will block these as well as force them to be
+# treated as images. This combination of actions is important
+# for ad blocking. What the browser will show instead is
+# determined by the setting of "+set-image-blocker"
+ {+imageblock}
+ ar.atwola.com
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+ .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+ .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+ bs*.gsanet.com
+ bs*.einets.com
+ .qkimg.net
+ ad.*.doubleclick.net
+
+
+# These will just simply be blocked. They will generate the BLOCKED
+# banner page, if matched. Heavy use of wildcards and regular
+# expressions in this example.
+ {+block}
+ ad*.
+ .*ads.
+ banner?.
+ count*.
+ /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+ /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+ .hitbox.com
+
+
+# The above block section will catch some sites we DO NOT want
+# blocked via wildcards and regular expressions. Now set exceptions
+# to the exceptions so the good guys get better treatment.
+ {-block}
+ advogato.org
+ adsl.
+ ad[ud]*.
+ advice.
+# Let's just trust universities
+ .edu
+ www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv
+# We'll need to access to path names containing 'download'
+ .*downloads.
+ /downloads/
+# 'adv' is for globalintersec means advanced, not advertisement
+ www.globalintersec.com/adv
+
+
+# Don't filter *anything* from our friends at sourceforge.
+# Notice we don't have to name the individual filter
+# identifiers -- we just turn them all off.
+ {-filter}
+ .sourceforge.net
+
+
+
+Some examples:
+
+Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified sites
+(showing an excerpt from the "default" section of an actions file ONLY):
+
+ # Excerpt only:
+ # Allow cookies to and from the server, but
+ # for this browser session ONLY
+ {
+ # other actions normally listed here...
+ -prevent-setting-cookies \
+ -prevent-reading-cookies \
+ +session-cookies-only \
+ }
+ / # match all URLs
+
+ # Exceptions to the above, sites that benefit from persistent cookies
+ # that are saved from one browser session to the next.
+ { -session-cookies-only }
+ .javasoft.com
+ .sun.com
+ .yahoo.com
+ .msdn.microsoft.com
+ .redhat.com
+
+
+
+Now turn off "fast redirects", and then we allow two exceptions:
+
+ # Turn them off (excerpt only)!
+ {
+ # other actions normally listed here...
+ +fast-redirects
+ }
+ / # match all URLs
+
+ # Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
+ {-fast-redirects}
+ www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
+ login.yahoo.com
+
+
+Turn on page filtering according to rules in the defined sections of
+default.filter, and make one exception for Sourceforge:
+
+ # Run everything through the filter file, using only certain
+ # specified sections:
+ {
+ # other actions normally listed here...
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}\
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ }
+ / #match all URLs
+
+ # Then disable filtering of code from all sourceforge domains!
+ {-filter}
+ .sourceforge.net
+
+
+Now some URLs that we want "blocked" (normally generates the "blocked" banner).
+Typically, the "block" action is off by default in the upper section of an
+actions file, then enabled against certain URLs and patterns in the lower part
+of the file. Many of these use regular expressions that will expand to match
+multiple URLs:
+
+ # Blocklist:
+ {+block}
+ ad*.
+ .*ads.
+ banner?.
+ count*.
+ /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+ /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+ .hitbox.com
+ /.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
+ /.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
+ /.*/abanners/
+ /autoads/
+
+
+Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
+misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways a site
+designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header content, and other
+criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules for all
+sites. See the Appendix for a brief example on troubleshooting actions.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.6. Aliases
+
+Custom "actions", known to Privoxy as "aliases", can be defined by combining
+other "actions". These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in "actions".
+Currently, an alias can contain any character except space, tab, "=", "{" or "}
+". But please use only "a"- "z", "0"-"9", "+", and "-". Alias names are not
+case sensitive, and must be defined before other actions in the actions file!
+And there can only be one set of "aliases" defined per file. Each actions file
+may have its own aliases, but they are only visible within that file.
+
+Now let's define a few aliases:
+
+ # Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first!
+ {{alias}}
+ +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
+ fragile =
+ -block -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
+ shop = -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
+ +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
+
+ # Aliases defined from other aliases, for people who don't like to type
+ # too much: ;-)
+ c0 = +prevent-cookies
+ c1 = -prevent-cookies
+ #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
- Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and
- [60]Junkbuster's Corporation, and was released as free open-source
- software under the GNU GPL. [61]Stefan Waldherr made many
- improvements, and started the [62]SourceForge project Privoxy to
- rekindle development. There are now several active developers
- contributing. The last stable release of Junkbuster was v2.0.2, which
- has now grown whiskers ;-).
- _________________________________________________________________
+
+Some examples using our "shop" and "fragile" aliases from above. These would
+appear in the lower sections of an actions file as exceptions to the default
+actions (as defined in the upper section):
+
+ # These sites are very complex and require
+ # minimal interference.
+ {fragile}
+ .office.microsoft.com
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+ .nytimes.com
+
+ # Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads.
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+
+ # These shops require pop-ups also
+ {shop -kill-popups}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk
-7. See also
- [63]http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa
+The "shop" and "fragile" aliases are often used for "problem" sites that
+require most actions to be disabled in order to function properly.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5. The Filter File
+
+Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
+modification can be removal, or re-writing, of any web page content, including
+tags and non-visible content. The default filter file is default.filter,
+located in the config directory.
+
+This is potentially a very powerful feature, and requires knowledge of both
+"regular expression" and HTML in order create custom filters. But, there are a
+number of useful filters included with Privoxy for many common situations.
+
+The included example file is divided into sections. Each section begins with
+the FILTER keyword, followed by the identifier for that section, e.g. "FILTER:
+webbugs". Each section performs a similar type of filtering, such as
+"html-annoyances".
+
+This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in the target
+page. The expressions can only operate on one line at a time. Some examples
+from the included default default.filter:
+
+Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by deleting
+such references:
+
+ FILTER: html-annoyances
+
+ # New browser windows should be resizeable and have a location and status
+ # bar. Make it so.
+ #
+ s/resizable="?(no|0)"?/resizable=1/ig s/noresize/yesresize/ig
+ s/location="?(no|0)"?/location=1/ig s/status="?(no|0)"?/status=1/ig
+ s/scrolling="?(no|0|Auto)"?/scrolling=1/ig
+ s/menubar="?(no|0)"?/menubar=1/ig
+
+ # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
+ #
+ s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
+
+ # Is this evil?
+ #
+ #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
+ #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
- [64]http://www.privoxy.org/
+
+Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck", and
+have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
+
+ FILTER: fun
+
+ s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
+
+ # Buzzword Bingo:
+ #
+ s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BINGO!</b></
+font>/ig
- [65]http://p.p/
+
+Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
+
+ # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
+ FILTER: webbugs
+
+ s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1
+(\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
- [66]http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
-
- [67]http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5.1. The +filter Action
+
+Filters are enabled with the "+filter" action from within one of the actions
+files. "+filter" requires one parameter, which should match one of the section
+identifiers in the filter file itself. Example:
+
+ +filter{html-annoyances}
+
+
+This would activate that particular filter. Similarly, "+filter" can be turned
+off for selected sites as: "-filter{html-annoyances}". Remember, all actions
+are off by default, unless they are explicity enabled in one of the actions
+files.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.6. Templates
+
+When Privoxy displays one of its internal pages, such as a 404 Not Found error
+page, it uses the appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these are
+located in /etc/privoxy/templates by default. These may be customized, if
+desired. cgi-style.css is used to control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
+
+The default "Blocked" banner page with the bright red top banner, is called
+just "blocked". This may be customized or replaced with something else if
+desired.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
+note the following sections.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.1. Get Support
+
+To get support, use the Sourceforge Support Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
- [68]http://privacy.net/analyze/
-
- [69]http://www.squid-cache.org/
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-8. Appendix
-
-8.1. Regular Expressions
-
- Privoxy can use "regular expressions" in various config files.
- Assuming support for "pcre" (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) is
- compiled in, which is the default. Such configuration directives do
- not require regular expressions, but they can be used to increase
- flexibility by matching a pattern with wild-cards against URLs.
-
- If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what "regular
- expressions" are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
- introduction only. A full explanation would require a book ;-)
-
- "Regular expressions" is a way of matching one character expression
- against another to see if it matches or not. One of the "expressions"
- is a literal string of readable characters (letter, numbers, etc), and
- the other is a complex string of literal characters combined with
- wild-cards, and other special characters, called meta-characters. The
- "meta-characters" have special meanings and are used to build the
- complex pattern to be matched against. Perl Compatible Regular
- Expressions is an enhanced form of the regular expression language
- with backward compatibility.
-
- To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use
- wild-card characters when listing files with the dir command in DOS.
- *.* matches all filenames. The "special" character here is the
- asterisk which matches any and all characters. We can be more specific
- and use ? to match just individual characters. So "dir file?.text"
- would match "file1.txt", "file2.txt", etc. We are pattern matching,
- using a similar technique to "regular expressions"!
-
- Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much
- more powerful. There are many more "special characters" and ways of
- building complex patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common
- ones, and then some examples:
-
- . - Matches any single character, e.g. "a", "A", "4", ":", or "@".
-
- ? - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE
- times. Either/or.
-
- + - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE
- times.
-
- * - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE
- times.
-
- \ - The "escape" character denotes that the following character should
- be taken literally. This is used where one of the special characters
- (e.g. ".") needs to be taken literally and not as a special
- meta-character.
-
- [] - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if any of the
- enclosed characters are encountered.
-
- () - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression, or multiple
- sub-expressions.
-
- | - The "bar" character works like an "or" conditional statement. A
- match is successful if the sub-expression on either side of "|"
- matches.
-
- s/string1/string2/g - This is used to rewrite strings of text.
- "string1" is replaced by "string2" in this example.
-
- These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching
- URLs with Privoxy, and is a long way from a definitive list. This is
- enough to get us started with a few simple examples which may be more
- illuminating:
-
- /.*/banners/.* - A simple example that uses the common combination of
- "." and "*" to denote any character, zero or more times. In other
- words, any string at all. So we start with a literal forward slash,
- then our regular expression pattern (".*") another literal forward
- slash, the string "banners", another forward slash, and lastly another
- ".*". We are building a directory path here. This will match any file
- with the path that has a directory named "banners" in it. The ".*"
- matches any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward
- slashes, so it might expand into a much longer looking path. For
- example, this could match:
- "/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif", or just
- "/banners/annoying.html", or almost an infinite number of other
- possible combinations, just so it has "banners" in the path somewhere.
-
- A now something a little more complex:
-
- /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/ - We have several literal
- forward slashes again ("/"), so we are building another expression
- that is a file path statement. We have another ".*", so we are
- matching against any conceivable sub-path, just so it matches our
- expression. The only true literal that must match our pattern is adv,
- together with the forward slashes. What comes after the "adv" string
- is the interesting part.
-
- Remember the "?" means the preceding expression (either a literal
- character or anything grouped with "(...)" in this case) can exist or
- not, since this means either zero or one match. So
- "((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))" is optional, as are the individual
- sub-expressions: "(er)", "(ing|ements?)", and the "s". The "|" means
- "or". We have two of those. For instance, "(ing|ements?)", can expand
- to match either "ing" OR "ements?". What is being done here, is an
- attempt at matching as many variations of "advertisement", and
- similar, as possible. So this would expand to match just "adv", or
- "advert", or "adverts", or "advertising", or "advertisement", or
- "advertisements". You get the idea. But it would not match
- "advertizements" (with a "z"). We could fix that by changing our
- regular expression to: "/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/",
- which would then match either spelling.
-
- /.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g) - Again another path statement with
- forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets "[]" can be matched.
- This is using "0-9" as a shorthand expression to mean any digit one
- through nine. It is the same as saying "0123456789". So any digit
- matches. The "+" means one or more of the preceding expression must be
- included. The preceding expression here is what is in the square
- brackets -- in this case, any digit one through nine. Then, at the
- end, we have a grouping: "(gif|jpe?g)". This includes a "|", so this
- needs to match the expression on either side of that bar character
- also. A simple "gif" on one side, and the other side will in turn
- match either "jpeg" or "jpg", since the "?" means the letter "e" is
- optional and can be matched once or not at all. So we are building an
- expression here to match image GIF or JPEG type image file. It must
- include the literal string "advert", then one or more digits, and a
- "." (which is now a literal, and not a special character, since it is
- escaped with "\"), and lastly either "gif", or "jpeg", or "jpg". Some
- possible matches would include: "//advert1.jpg",
- "/nasty/ads/advert1234.gif", "/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg". It
- would not match "advert1.gif" (no leading slash), or "/adverts232.jpg"
- (the expression does not include an "s"), or "/advert1.jsp" ("jsp" is
- not in the expression anywhere).
-
- s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/i - This is a substitution. "MicroSuck"
- will replace any occurrence of "microsoft". The "i" at the end of the
- expression means ignore case. The "(?!.com)" means the match should
- fail if "microsoft" is followed by ".com". In other words, this acts
- like a "NOT" modifier. In case this is a hyperlink, we don't want to
- break it ;-).
-
- We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so
- that you can understand the default Privoxy configuration files, and
- maybe use this knowledge to customize your own installation. There is
- much, much more that can be done with regular expressions. Now that
- you know enough to get started, you can learn more on your own :/
-
- More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
- [70]http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-8.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
-
- Since Privoxy proxies each requested web page, it is easy for Privoxy
- to trap certain URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to Privoxy,
- and see how it is configured, see how our rules are being applied,
- change these rules and other configuration options, and even turn
- Privoxy's filtering off, all with a web browser.
-
- The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access to
- Privoxy. Of course, Privoxy must be running to access these. If not,
- you will get a friendly error message. Internet access is not
- necessary either.
-
- * Privoxy main page:
-
- [71]http://www.privoxy.org/config/
- Alternately, this may be reached at [72]http://p.p/, but this
- variation may not work as reliably as the above in some
- configurations.
- * Show information about the current configuration:
-
- [73]http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-status
- * Show the source code version numbers:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.2. Report bugs
+
+To submit bugs, use the Sourceforge Bug Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+
+
+Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
+that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are using
+your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the
+problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest development
+snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS sources. Please be
+sure to include the Privoxy version, platform, browser, any pertinent log data,
+any other relevant details (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to
+reproduce the bug.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.3. Request new features
+
+To submit ideas on new features, use the Sourceforge feature request forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+
+You can also send feedback on websites that Privoxy has problems with. Please
+bookmark the following link: "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback". Once you surf
+to a page with problems, use the bookmark to send us feedback. We will look
+into the issue as soon as possible.
+
+New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on
+your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5. Other
+
+For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
+
+
+Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
+discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are available,
+too. See the page on Sourceforge.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+9. Copyright and History
+
+9.1. Copyright
+
+Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+version.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details, which
+is available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place - Suite
+330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple
+Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+9.2. History
+
+Privoxy is evolved, and derived from, the Internet Junkbuster, with many
+improvments and enhancements over the original.
+
+Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters
+Corporation, and was released as free open-source software under the GNU GPL.
+Stefan Waldherr made many improvements, and started the SourceForge project
+Privoxy to rekindle development. There are now several active developers
+contributing. The last stable release of Junkbuster was v2.0.2, which has now
+grown whiskers ;-).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+10. See Also
+
+Other references and sites of interest to Privoxy users:
+
+http://www.privoxy.org/, The Privoxy Home page.
+
+http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa, the Project Page for Privoxy on
+Sourceforge.
+
+http://p.p/, access Privoxy from your browser. Alternately, http://
+config.privoxy.org may work in some situations where the first does not.
+
+http://p.p/, and select "actions file feedback system" to submit "misses" to
+the developers.
+
+http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
+
+http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
+
+http://privacy.net/analyze/
+
+http://www.squid-cache.org/
+
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11. Appendix
+
+11.1. Regular Expressions
+
+Privoxy can use "regular expressions" in various config files. Assuming support
+for "pcre" (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) is compiled in, which is the
+default. Such configuration directives do not require regular expressions, but
+they can be used to increase flexibility by matching a pattern with wild-cards
+against URLs.
+
+If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what "regular
+expressions" are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
+introduction only. A full explanation would require a book ;-)
+
+"Regular expressions" is a way of matching one character expression against
+another to see if it matches or not. One of the "expressions" is a literal
+string of readable characters (letter, numbers, etc), and the other is a
+complex string of literal characters combined with wild-cards, and other
+special characters, called meta-characters. The "meta-characters" have special
+meanings and are used to build the complex pattern to be matched against. Perl
+Compatible Regular Expressions is an enhanced form of the regular expression
+language with backward compatibility.
+
+To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
+characters when listing files with the dir command in DOS. *.* matches all
+filenames. The "special" character here is the asterisk which matches any and
+all characters. We can be more specific and use ? to match just individual
+characters. So "dir file?.text" would match "file1.txt", "file2.txt", etc. We
+are pattern matching, using a similar technique to "regular expressions"!
+
+Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
+powerful. There are many more "special characters" and ways of building complex
+patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones, and then some
+examples:
+
+. - Matches any single character, e.g. "a", "A", "4", ":", or "@".
+
+? - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE times. Either/
+or.
+
++ - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE times.
+
+* - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE times.
+
+\ - The "escape" character denotes that the following character should be taken
+literally. This is used where one of the special characters (e.g. ".") needs to
+be taken literally and not as a special meta-character. Example: "example
+\.com", makes sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded
+to its meta-character meaning of any single character).
+
+[] - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if any of the enclosed
+characters are encountered. For instance, "[0-9]" matches any numeric digit
+(zero through nine). As an example, we can combine this with "+" to match any
+digit one of more times: "[0-9]+".
+
+() - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression, or multiple
+sub-expressions.
+
+| - The "bar" character works like an "or" conditional statement. A match is
+successful if the sub-expression on either side of "|" matches. As an example:
+"/(this|that) example/" uses grouping and the bar character and would match
+either "this example" or "that example", and nothing else.
+
+s/string1/string2/g - This is used to rewrite strings of text. "string1" is
+replaced by "string2" in this example. There must of course be a match on
+"string1" first.
+
+These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
+Privoxy, and is a long way from a definitive list. This is enough to get us
+started with a few simple examples which may be more illuminating:
+
+/.*/banners/.* - A simple example that uses the common combination of "." and "
+*" to denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at
+all. So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression
+pattern (".*") another literal forward slash, the string "banners", another
+forward slash, and lastly another ".*". We are building a directory path here.
+This will match any file with the path that has a directory named "banners" in
+it. The ".*" matches any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward
+slashes, so it might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this
+could match: "/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif", or just "/
+banners/annoying.html", or almost an infinite number of other possible
+combinations, just so it has "banners" in the path somewhere.
+
+A now something a little more complex:
+
+/.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/ - We have several literal forward
+slashes again ("/"), so we are building another expression that is a file path
+statement. We have another ".*", so we are matching against any conceivable
+sub-path, just so it matches our expression. The only true literal that must
+match our pattern is adv, together with the forward slashes. What comes after
+the "adv" string is the interesting part.
+
+Remember the "?" means the preceding expression (either a literal character or
+anything grouped with "(...)" in this case) can exist or not, since this means
+either zero or one match. So "((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))" is optional, as
+are the individual sub-expressions: "(er)", "(ing|ements?)", and the "s". The "
+|" means "or". We have two of those. For instance, "(ing|ements?)", can expand
+to match either "ing" OR "ements?". What is being done here, is an attempt at
+matching as many variations of "advertisement", and similar, as possible. So
+this would expand to match just "adv", or "advert", or "adverts", or
+"advertising", or "advertisement", or "advertisements". You get the idea. But
+it would not match "advertizements" (with a "z"). We could fix that by changing
+our regular expression to: "/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/", which
+would then match either spelling.
+
+/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g) - Again another path statement with forward
+slashes. Anything in the square brackets "[]" can be matched. This is using
+"0-9" as a shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the
+same as saying "0123456789". So any digit matches. The "+" means one or more of
+the preceding expression must be included. The preceding expression here is
+what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit one through nine.
+Then, at the end, we have a grouping: "(gif|jpe?g)". This includes a "|", so
+this needs to match the expression on either side of that bar character also. A
+simple "gif" on one side, and the other side will in turn match either "jpeg"
+or "jpg", since the "?" means the letter "e" is optional and can be matched
+once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to match image GIF or
+JPEG type image file. It must include the literal string "advert", then one or
+more digits, and a "." (which is now a literal, and not a special character,
+since it is escaped with "\"), and lastly either "gif", or "jpeg", or "jpg".
+Some possible matches would include: "//advert1.jpg", "/nasty/ads/
+advert1234.gif", "/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg". It would not match
+"advert1.gif" (no leading slash), or "/adverts232.jpg" (the expression does not
+include an "s"), or "/advert1.jsp" ("jsp" is not in the expression anywhere).
+
+s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/i - This is a substitution. "MicroSuck" will
+replace any occurrence of "microsoft". The "i" at the end of the expression
+means ignore case. The "(?!.com)" means the match should fail if "microsoft" is
+followed by ".com". In other words, this acts like a "NOT" modifier. In case
+this is a hyperlink, we don't want to break it ;-).
+
+We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
+can understand the default Privoxy configuration files, and maybe use this
+knowledge to customize your own installation. There is much, much more that can
+be done with regular expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you
+can learn more on your own :/
+
+More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions: http://www.perldoc.com/
+perl5.6/pod/perlre.html
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
+
+Since Privoxy proxies each requested web page, it is easy for Privoxy to trap
+certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to Privoxy, and see how
+it is configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these rules and
+other configuration options, and even turn Privoxy's filtering off, all with a
+web browser.
+
+The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access to Privoxy.
+Of course, Privoxy must be running to access these. If not, you will get a
+friendly error message. Internet access is not necessary either.
+
+ * Privoxy main page:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/
- [74]http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-version
- * Show the client's request headers:
+ Alternately, this may be reached at http://p.p/, but this variation may not
+ work as reliably as the above in some configurations.
+
+ * Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
+ editing of actions files:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-status
- [75]http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-request
- * Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
+ * Show the source code version numbers:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-version
- [76]http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-url-info
- * Toggle Privoxy on or off:
+ * Show the browser's request headers:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-request
- [77]http://www.privoxy.org/config/toggle
- Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
+ * Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info
- [78]http://www.privoxy.org/config/toggle?set=disable
+ * Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, "Privoxy" continues to run, but
+ only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/toggle
- [79]http://www.privoxy.org/config/toggle?set=enable
- * Edit the actions list file:
+ Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable
- [80]http://www.privoxy.org/config/edit-actions
+ http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable
- These may be bookmarked for quick reference.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
-8.3. Anatomy of an Action
-
- The way Privoxy applies "actions" to any given URL can be complex, and
- not always so easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we
- need to be able to see just what Privoxy is doing. Especially, if
- something Privoxy is doing is causing us a problem inadvertantly. It
- can be a little daunting to look at the actions files themselves,
- since they tend to be filled with "regular expressions" whose
- consequences are not always so obvious. Privoxy provides the
- [81]http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-url-info page that can show us
- very specifically how actions are being applied to any given URL. This
- is a big help for troubleshooting.
-
- First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then Privoxy
- will tell us how the current configuration will handle it. This will
- not help with filtering effects from the default.filter file! It also
- will not tell you about any other URLs that may be embedded within the
- URL you are testing. For instance, images such as ads are expressed as
- URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So you will only get
- info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area -- not any
- sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you will
- have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's "View
- Page Source" option for this.
-
- Let's look at an example, [82]google.com, one section at a time:
-
- System default actions:
-
- { -add-header -block -deanimate-gifs -downgrade -fast-redirects -filter
- -hide-forwarded -hide-from -hide-referer -hide-user-agent -image
- -image-blocker -limit-connect -no-compression -no-cookies-keep
- -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set -no-popups -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
-
-
- This is the top section, and only tells us of the compiled in
- defaults. This is basically what Privoxy would do if there were not
- any "actions" defined, i.e. it does nothing. Every action is disabled.
- This is not particularly informative for our purposes here. OK, next
- section:
-
- Matches for http://google.com:
-
- { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} +no-compression
- +no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups
- -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
- /
-
- { -no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set }
- .google.com
-
- { -fast-redirects }
- .google.com
-
-
- This is much more informative, and tells us how we have defined our
- "actions", and which ones match for our example, "google.com". The
- first grouping shows our default settings, which would apply to all
- URLs. If you look at your "actions" file, this would be the section
- just below the "aliases" section near the top. This applies to all
- URLs as signified by the single forward slash -- "/".
-
- These are the default actions we have enabled. But we can define
- additional actions that would be exceptions to these general rules,
- and then list specific URLs that these exceptions would apply to. Last
- match wins. Just below this then are two explict matches for
- ".google.com". The first is negating our various cookie blocking
- actions (i.e. we will allow cookies here). The second is allowing
- "fast-redirects". Note that there is a leading dot here --
- ".google.com". This will match any hosts and sub-domains, in the
- google.com domain also, such as "www.google.com". So, apparently, we
- have these actions defined somewhere in the lower part of our actions
- file, and "google.com" is referenced in these sections.
-
- And now we pull it altogether in the bottom section and summarize how
- Privoxy is appying all its "actions" to "google.com":
-
- Final results:
-
- -add-header -block -deanimate-gifs -downgrade -fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} -limit-connect +no-compression
- -no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups -vanilla-wafer
- -wafer
-
-
- Now another example, "ad.doubleclick.net":
-
- { +block +image }
- .ad.doubleclick.net
-
- { +block +image }
- ad*.
+These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.2.1. Bookmarklets
+
+Below are some "bookmarklets" to allow you to easily access a "mini" version of
+some of Privoxy's special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer,
+but should work equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which
+support JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not
+by clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
+
+To save them, right-click the link and choose "Add to Favorites" (IE) or "Add
+Bookmark" (Netscape). You will get a warning that the bookmark "may not be
+safe" - just click OK. Then you can run the Bookmarklet directly from your
+favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access, you can put them on the "Links"
+bar (IE) or the "Personal Toolbar" (Netscape), and run them with a single
+click.
+
+ * Privoxy - Enable
+
+ * Privoxy - Disable
+
+ * Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
+
+ * Privoxy- View Status
+
+ * Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback
+
+Credit: The site which gave me the general idea for these bookmarklets is
+www.bookmarklets.com. They have more information about bookmarklets.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.3. Chain of Events
+
+Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
+requested by your browser and Privoxy is on duty:
+
+ * First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send the
+ request to Privoxy, which will in turn, relay the request to the remote web
+ server after passing the following tests:
+
+ * Privoxy traps any request for its own internal CGI pages (e.g http://p.p/)
+ and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
+
+ * Next, Privoxy checks to see if the URL matches any "+block" patterns. If
+ so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be
+ contacted. "+handle-as-image" is then checked and if it does not match, an
+ HTML "BLOCKED" page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match, an image is
+ returned. The type of image depends on the setting of "+set-image-blocker"
+ (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
+
+ * Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the trust file, then
+ that is done.
+
+ * If the URL pattern matches the "+fast-redirects" action, it is then
+ processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
+
+ * Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
+ of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. "+hide-user-agent", etc.),
+ headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and their
+ parameters.
+
+ * Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
+ page and related data).
+
+ * First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
+ things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
+ filtered as deterimed by the "+prevent-setting-cookies",
+ "+session-cookies-only", and "+downgrade-http-version" actions.
+
+ * If the "+kill-popups" action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript
+ document, the popup-code in the response is filtered on-the-fly as it is
+ received.
+
+ * If a "+filter" or "+deanimate-gifs" action applies (and the document type
+ fits the action), the rest of the page is read into memory (up to a
+ configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from default.filter) are
+ processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
+ they are specified in the default.filter file. Animated GIFs, if present,
+ are reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
+ setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by Privoxy
+ back to your browser.
+
+ If neither "+filter" or "+deanimate-gifs" matches, then Privoxy passes the
+ raw data through to the client browser as it becomes available.
+
+ * As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it reads
+ and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page source,
+ e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
+ frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
+ request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
+ complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.4. Anatomy of an Action
+
+The way Privoxy applies "actions" and "filters" to any given URL can be
+complex, and not always so easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes
+we need to be able to see just what Privoxy is doing. Especially, if something
+Privoxy is doing is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little
+daunting to look at the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend
+to be filled with "regular expressions" whose consequences are not always so
+obvious.
+
+One quick test to see if Privoxy is causing a problem or not, is to disable it
+temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting step. See the
+Bookmarklets section on a quick and easy way to do this (be sure to flush
+caches afterward!).
+
+Privoxy also provides the http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info page that can
+show us very specifically how actions are being applied to any given URL. This
+is a big help for troubleshooting.
+
+First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then Privoxy will tell
+us how the current configuration will handle it. This will not help with
+filtering effects (i.e. the "+filter" action) from the default.filter file
+since this is handled very differently and not so easy to trap! It also will
+not tell you about any other URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are
+testing. For instance, images such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw
+page source of HTML pages. So you will only get info for the actual URL that is
+pasted into the prompt area -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about
+embedded URLs like ads, you will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use
+your browser's "View Page Source" option for this. Or right click on the ad,
+and grab the URL.
+
+Let's try an example, google.com, and look at it one section at a time:
+
+ Matches for http://google.com:
+
+--- File standard ---
+(no matches in this file)
+
+--- File default ---
+
+{ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
+ -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
+/
+
+ { -session-cookies-only }
+ .google.com
+
+ { -fast-redirects }
+ .google.com
+
+--- File user ---
+(no matches in this file)
+
+This tells us how we have defined our "actions", and which ones match for our
+example, "google.com". The first listing is any matches for the standard.action
+file. No hits at all here on "standard". Then next is "default", or our
+default.action file. The large, multi-line listing, is how the actions are set
+to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings. If you look at your "actions"
+file, this would be the section just below the "aliases" section near the top.
+This will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
+of the listing -- "/".
+
+But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
+rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
+apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
+".google.com". The first is negating our previous cookie setting, which was for
+"+session-cookies-only" (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent
+cookies for google. The second turns off any "+fast-redirects" action, allowing
+this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading dot here --
+".google.com". This will match any hosts and sub-domains, in the google.com
+domain also, such as "www.google.com". So, apparently, we have these two
+actions defined somewhere in the lower part of our default.action file, and
+"google.com" is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
+
+Then, for our user.action file, we again have no hits.
+
+And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
+Privoxy is applying all its "actions" to "google.com":
+
+ Final results:
+ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects
+ -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
+
+Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to "fast-redirects"
+and "session-cookies-only".
+
+Now another example, "ad.doubleclick.net":
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ ad*.
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ .doubleclick.net
+
+We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is matched
+three different times. Each as an "+block +handle-as-image", which is the
+expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as: "+imageblock". (
+"Aliases" are defined in the first section of the actions file and typically
+used to combine more than one action.)
+
+Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
+image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively would
+also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys though ;-)
+Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious URL to be invisible, it should be
+defined as "ad.doubleclick.net" is done here -- as both a "+block" and an
+"+handle-as-image". The custom alias "+imageblock" just simplifies the process
+and make it more readable.
+
+One last example. Let's try "http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/". This one is
+giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm...
+
+ Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
+
+ { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
+ +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block}
+ +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank}
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-setting-cookies
+ -prevent-reading-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
+ /
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+
+Ooops, the "/adsl/" is matching "/ads"! But we did not want this at all! Now we
+see why we get the blank page. We could now add a new action below this that
+explicitly does not block ("{-block}") paths with "adsl". There are various
+ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
+
+ { -block }
+ /adsl
+
+Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when making
+such changes. Or, try using Shift+Reload.
+
+But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like we did
+with:
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+
+That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem was.
+If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default rules in
+the first section is causing the problem. This would require some guesswork,
+and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule. One likely
+cause would be one of the "{+filter}" actions. Try adding the URL for the site
+to one of aliases that turn off "+filter":
+
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .jungle.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+ .forbes.com
+
+"{shop}" is an "alias" that expands to "{ -filter -session-cookies-only }". Or
+you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
+
+ {-filter}
+ .forbes.com
+
+This would probably be most appropriately put in user.action, for local site
+exceptions.
+
+"{fragile}" is an alias that disables most actions. This can be used as a last
+resort for problem sites. Remember to flush caches! If this still does not
+work, you will have to go through the remaining actions one by one to find
+which one(s) is causing the problem.
- { +block +image }
- .doubleclick.net
-
-
- We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is
- matched three different times. Each as an "+block +image", which is
- the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
- "+imageblock". ("Aliases" are defined in the first section of the
- actions file and typically used to combine more than one action.)
-
- Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an
- unwanted image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case
- effectively would also cover the first. No point in taking chances
- with these guys though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
- URL to be invisible, it should be defined as "ad.doubleclick.net" is
- done here -- as both a "+block" and an "+image". The custom alias
- "+imageblock" does this for us.
-
- One last example. Let's try "http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/".
- This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm...
-
- Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
-
- { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} +no-compression
- +no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups
- -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
- /
-
- { +block +image }
- /ads
-
-
- Ooops, the "/adsl/" is matching "/ads"! But we did not want this at
- all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could now add a new
- action below this that explictly does not block (-block) pages with
- "adsl". There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
-
- { -block }
- /adsl
-
-
- Now the page displays ;-)
-
-References
-
- Visible links
- 1. http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/
- 2. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INTRODUCTION
- 3. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN31
- 4. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION
- 5. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION-SOURCE
- 6. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION-RH
- 7. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION-SUSE
- 8. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION-OS2
- 9. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION-WIN
- 10. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#INSTALLATION-OTHER
- 11. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#CONFIGURATION
- 12. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN150
- 13. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN168
- 14. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN199
- 15. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN232
- 16. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN325
- 17. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN462
- 18. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN550
- 19. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN659
- 20. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#ACTIONSFILE
- 21. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN758
- 22. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN832
- 23. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1149
- 24. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#FILTERFILE
- 25. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1208
- 26. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#QUICKSTART
- 27. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1264
- 28. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#CONTACT
- 29. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#COPYRIGHT
- 30. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1323
- 31. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1329
- 32. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#SEEALSO
- 33. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#APPENDIX
- 34. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#REGEX
- 35. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1517
- 36. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#ACTIONSANAT
- 37. http://p.p/
- 38. http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/
- 39. http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/ijbswa/current/
- 40. http://www.gnu.org/
- 41. http://p.p/
- 42. http://www.privoxy.org/config/
- 43. http://p.p/
- 44. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#ACTIONSFILE
- 45. http://p.p/
- 46. http://p.p/
- 47. http://p.p/
- 48. http://p.p/
- 49. http://p.p/show-url-info
- 50. http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html
- 51. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#REGEX
- 52. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#ACTIONSANAT
- 53. http://p.p/
- 54. http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
- 55. http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118
- 56. http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse
- 57. http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118
- 58. http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118
- 59. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
- 60. http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/ijbfaq.html
- 61. http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
- 62. http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/
- 63. http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa
- 64. http://www.privoxy.org/
- 65. http://p.p/
- 66. http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
- 67. http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
- 68. http://privacy.net/analyze/
- 69. http://www.squid-cache.org/
- 70. http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html
- 71. http://www.privoxy.org/config/
- 72. http://p.p/
- 73. http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-status
- 74. http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-version
- 75. http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-request
- 76. http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-url-info
- 77. http://www.privoxy.org/config/toggle
- 78. http://www.privoxy.org/config/toggle?set=disable
- 79. http://www.privoxy.org/config/toggle?set=enable
- 80. http://www.privoxy.org/config/edit-actions
- 81. http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-url-info
- 82. http://google.com/
-
- Hidden links:
- 83. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1389
- 84. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1397
- 85. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1400
- 86. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1403
- 87. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1406
- 88. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1411
- 89. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1414
- 90. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1417
- 91. file://localhost/home/swa/sf/current-org/doc/source/tmp.html#AEN1423
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff